Howell Lake
by Ancam
Summary: Heather is the new girl in town and her new friends Jess and Cris wants her to come along for a night with some of their male friends. When Jess and Cris challenges the boys to do a race, Heather is left behind with one of the boys; Daryl Dixon. Young Daryl Dixon, before the ZA. Rated M for drug abuse, language and sexual content.
1. Georgian summer night

**Hello dear reeders (ha ha, the wittyness of me)**

**So I'm having one of the famous writer's block on my story "Yes" (it got deleted from this site because it contains the real Reedus - you can find it on mibba), and all I can do about it is write Daryl-stuff (n' thaaangs); SO! Here I am with yet another smutty story about Daryl Dixon. I hope you all like it and please leave me a review and a follow! It makes me so happy :-)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the badass that is Daryl Dixon (unfortunately)**

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**Georgian summer nights**

She looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap and bit down on her bottom lip trying to hide the frown that somehow had crept its way up on her lips. Small girly chuckles sounded from Cristina and Jessica that sat on the damp grass beside her and Heather quickly plastered on a smile before looking at them.

She didn't want them to see that she was having second thoughts on this.

Her eyes scanned the rest of the small group assembled around the smoldering warm fire and almost shivered when her eyes locked with his. Again. All night, every time her eyes would lock with his, whether it was a quick random glance or a longer more lingering one, an uneasy shiver would run down her spine and she would look away as quickly as possible. She didn't know if the shiver was provoked by something she liked or not; like her body hadn't really determined how she felt around him yet. Which really wasn't that surprising given the fact that she'd only just met him this afternoon.

Cristina, Jessica and her had spent the sun filled hours of the day down by Howell Lake as many of the other teens from their town did on weekends. And they'd stumbled across some of Jessica's friends; Zach, Matthew, Joseph and Daryl who'd invited them to join them down by the lake later. And for the rest of the afternoon, Heather had been listening to Cris and Jess going on and on about how award winningly hot Matthew and Joseph were. Heather had listened, laughed with them and pretended that she thought so too. Not because she did. But because she was too embarrassed to tell them who she thought was the good looking one of the boys; Daryl Dixon.

She was embarrassed because she knew how they were gonna react if she told them:_ "Seriously? Dixon? Aw come on, he's such a douche, his brother is so hotheaded, jail breakers, he looks so mean, are you kiddin' me, have you met his dad?!"_

The comments would never stop and she knew just that because she'd asked about him when they'd had an ice cream earlier that day. As absentmindedly as possible, Heather had said something like _'So that guy with the dark t-shirt, who was he?_' and both Jess and Cris had looked at each other and burst out in laughter, glaring at her with amused and mischievous glares.

"Wow, seems like the new gal in town wanna get a piece of the ol' Dixon boy, huh Jess?" Cristina had chirped out in such a soft spoken manner, it'd made Heather's cheeks burn red.

And Jessica had chuckled while jabbing Heather lightly in the ribs with her elbow, saying: "Oh lookie there, her cheeks are already as red as my dad's ass on Sundays!"

"No no, I was just asking…" Heather had tried, but was soon cut off by Cristina: "Aw Heather, honey, we're just kiddin' ya! Seriously though, if ya fancy him just a little, freakin' go for it! Haven't seen that boy as much as touch a girl in, like, forever."

And then they'd carried on their little obsession on the apparently interesting subject that was Daryl Dixon. How crazy his brother Merle was, his dad that seemingly no one in town really liked except the tough guys that hung out at Jill's and his reputation for doing drugs and drinking alcohol all the time.

So Heather had thought it smart to just keep her mouth shut about it and, well, not tell any of those two telltale birdies anything about her little 'thing' for Daryl, if she even had one. She didn't know him and had really counted on staying the hell away from him after all the shit Jess and Cris had told her about him, but… She felt as if she was driven to him; as if his dirty looks and mean stares made her wanna know him, and get closer to him all the time.

And that really infatuated her. Because she didn't wanna know a guy like Daryl Dixon, bad boy trying to make you feel like he's better than you because he rolls with the big boys or something… That really wasn't a type she'd wanna hang out with. And with that in mind she'd joined Jess and Cris and the boys later that night, expecting her little 'thing', whatever it was, for Daryl to have left her brain after the many stories she'd heard about him. But no.

Every time he would look at her with his intense blue eyes, a shuddering shiver would crawl down her spine, and her cheeks would burn red. What for, she had no clue. Maybe somewhere inside her there was a rebellious girl who was interested in him; who wanted to make her daddy mad for spending time with boys like that. Or maybe she just wanted to know if all them stories Jess and Cris had told were true. Either way, she knew she had to keep it to herself; no one was to know she sat there, pretending to be staring into the glowing wood of the fire while she really just secretly tried to get glimpses of the boy right across from her on the opposite side of the fireplace.

He was really something else; he didn't talk much, especially not with the girls, he almost didn't even look at Heather or the others, and he didn't join the guys when they were chasing Jess around with a small viper on a stick. Nor when Matt and Zach yelled out about their recent lady conquests; he just sat there on the tree log, staring into the fire while poking at the glowing embers beneath the flames of the fire with a stick and smirking a bit when the boys said something funny.

_ Interesting must be the word,_ she thought to herself as she wrapped her arms around her knees pushed up against her chest.

She found herself biting the nail on her index finger when Joseph smilingly asked Daryl, of course it was Daryl, about the 'little something'. That little something, plus the 'interesting' boy across from her, was the reason of her blood anxiously pumping through her veins that had her acting all weird and nervous. She really started getting uneasy as she saw the smirk on Daryl's face when he pulled out the joint.

Yeah, joint, weed, as in marihuana. It was actually Jess' idea; she'd really charmed her way in on Daryl when she asked them if they had any. And since Daryl's big brother was known for being stoned all the time, well, then why not ask him? Heather wanted to try it, see what the big fuss was all about, but now as the joint was lighted, she had a small stressed out lump in her throat that told her, maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. She watched how the boys took some drags and passed it to Jess, then Cris and how the thick white smoke that escaped their lungs, most often coughed out rapidly, made beautiful formations in the summer night air.

It smelled like dry spruce and reminded her of the many times she'd spent with her dad on his hunting trips back in Seattle, her home town. Well, her old home town; now they were living here in a small town at the outskirts of Macon, Georgia. She'd quickly made some friends, Jess and Cris had been very nice to her when she nervously entered the door of the Spanish class they shared together. And after only living here for a couple of weeks, she already felt like she belonged here. She liked the hospitality everyone showed down here, and the glorious sun of the South always had her smiling. When she woke up in the morning, after having washed off the night's dull layer of sleep, she always found herself staring out her bedroom window, out over the woods that were her backyard and up on the slowly rising sun that would tan her skin during the day.

And she silently thanked her dad's old boss for sending him to their department down here in Georgia, even though she at first hadn't liked it at all. She remembered how the tears had traced down her chins in anger as his words laid in the dusty air of their old house: "We're going to Georgia, sweetheart. We're leaving."

And now as she sat here around the smolder of the fireplace she smilingly shook her head at herself. She'd thrown a tantrum at her old man, yelling at him that he couldn't make her to leave her life in Toronto, her friends, her aunt Claire and her cousin Jake. But now she was actually glad they'd left; she found herself feeling more comfortable here, the school had a much nicer environment, the weather was warmer, she had a bigger room and… well, so far she hadn't really found anything about this small town that she didn't like. Except for maybe the situation that she so willingly had put herself in as of right now.

Her heart sped a little when Cris held the joint out in front of her; it was halfway done already, the filter white while the wrapping that held all the tobacco and weed was brown and dark.

_ Kinda like how Daryl's hair looks in this light_, she thought to herself as she took a small drag, her eyes gazing over to him.

The thick smoke traveled down her throat and an annoying prickle had her coughing lightly, the smoke leaving her body in small clouds that spread before her eyes. The taste had her frowning her lips and her mouth quickly went dry, her salivary glands desperately trying to keep her mouth moist but without luck. Surprisingly, Daryl was looking directly into her eyes, a hard glance, though with an amused light in them. Heather took another couple of drags, knowing she shouldn't smoke much when she wasn't used to it, not letting her eyes leave him.

Their eyes were like glued to each other; she simply couldn't twist hers away from his glare. Well not until she felt a nudging hand on her shoulder and a whispering 'be careful' travel into her ear. She reached around the fire to pass it on to Daryl, coughing lightly. Their fingers touched as she held it out for him, and as if she'd been struck by lightning, she pulled her hand back. Confusion painted her face as she watched him twitch his face into what she would guess to be a smirk; his lips curled a bit upwards and another amused light sparkled in his blue eyes. He put the joint to his lips and took a long drag and she let her head dive down between her knees, breaking the weird staring contest of theirs.

She felt how her heart sped inside of her chest, and how a tickling feeling waved through her legs. Was this caused by him?

She heard Jess giggle next to her and turned her face to have her staring right at her, her eyes questioning her about something she really couldn't comprehend._ 'What?'_ Heather asked silently, her eyes narrowing a little and her head tilting to the side.

Jess scooted closer to her and put her hand on her arm and whispering in a hot breath into her ear: "What's going on 'tween you an' Dixon?"

A not so appreciated smile formed on Heather's lips as Jess chuckled next to her. "Nothing," Heather answered, her voice sounding a bit strange to her. Like it wasn't her speaking, but someone else situated right where she was. Weird…

"Sure," Jess grinned and nudged Heather's arm again, starting to turn away from her, "You feel it?"

Did she feel it? She looked up to the starry sky that towered over them; how the stars and moon shone palely down on her face and she closed her eyes. Yes, she did feel it.

Her whole body waved with tickly sensations; like all of her nerves were being touched by light feathers and lingering smooth fingers. She nodded at Jess and let her face dump down on her knees again; her eyes wandering back to look over the flames at the guy in front of her. A smile was growing on her lips as he observed the guys next to him, his friends, chatting about something Heather couldn't make out what was. She bit down on her lower lip as she looked at his teeth.

He had nice teeth, straight white ones framed by thin lips he wetted just as her eyes lingered on them. Above his mouth sat a small mole, and then a smaller one just above that, that followed along the movements of his skin as he spoke out muffled words that had Joseph and Zach laughing out loud. Heather felt her cheeks burn as she tore her glaring eyes away from him once more. She really needed to stop that or else Jess and Cris was gonna have her dying from embarrassment.

"Ya know," Cris said, her finger raised at Zach and a lame grin across her face, "Oughta be more careful there, jackass. M' gonna win if we were ta have that race down the hill, and ya know it."

Jess waved her hands in the air as she too felt the need to tell the boys a thing or two: "Yea, she said it. We girls are gon' beat your lazy asses all the way down to the creek! Aint that righ' Heather-girl?"

Heather chuckled and shook her head, feeling her body wave with it. She raised a hand in front of her, saying: "Nope, not running. You go ahead, show 'em what y'all made of!"

She had the whole group laughing as she tried her best impersonating their thick Georgian accents. They all got up, yelling out how they were gonna win, all except for one: Daryl freaking Dixon.

"Ey D, ya not comin'?" Matt asked, reaching out a hand for him to grab but Daryl just waved a hand at him, declining. "Nah, y'all go ahead, 'm gon' stay here, keep the new girl company."

Heather could see a smirk on Matt's lips as he turned around to follow the others off into the woods. She suddenly felt quite self-conscious as she felt his stare on her. As if his blue eyes burned hot on her skin everywhere they wandered. She cleared her throat without wanting to say anything. She just sat there, enjoying the tickly sensations that waved through her lazy body, her eyes glued to the small flames that were licking on the wood between them.

A chill washed over her skin as his voice sounded, her stomach bubbling strangely as he said: "Y'all gonna get a sickass cold if ya're stayin' put on that wet grass."

Heather raised her eyes to find him still staring at her, shrugging his shoulders lightly when she smiled at him. "Whatever," she heard him mumble out, waving a hand in her direction before reaching down to slide out a pack of smokes from the pocket of his pants.

She felt her legs tremble as she got up on her feet and calmly made her way around the fire to sit down next to him on the tree log. "You offering?" she asked, feeling his stare hard on her face as she broke the distance between them.

"A smoker? Not what I expected from a gal like you," he shuffled out, digging out two cigarettes from his pack, lighting both of them and then reaching one over for her to take. She looked at it, sitting there between her index and middle finger, biting down on her lip as she thought about her dad again. Man, he would freak out if he knew she was sitting here, smoking weed and cigarettes with a boy she found kinda interesting, in the middle of the woods this late.

She'd told him that she was going to spend the night at Jess' place, a girls' sleepover, she'd told him. A chuckle escaped her lips as she put the cigarette butt to her lips and sucked in a small drag. This smoke wasn't as thick as the joints' and she almost didn't cough when it left her lungs, traveling over her lips. "M' not," she finally said, turning her face to look at Daryl.

Smoke rolled over his lips and a small curl in the side of his mouth had her eyes lingering on his thin lips and the subtle brown stubble that framed it. "Name's Heather, righ'?" he asked her, fiddling the cigarette between his fingers.

She nodded, giggling at nothing in particular. Maybe the strange situation she found herself in, the weird air that hung between them, as if something traveled there, making her cheeks blush just at the bare thought of her being there with him, alone and this close. And the fact that he was actually talking to her was making her kind of anxious. She would have thought him to keep silent until the other boys were back, but here they were.

"M' Daryl. Daryl Dixon."

Heather nodded her head again, grinning at him lamely. "Yeah, I know. Your brother's Merle, right?"

She saw something travel over his eyes, and he shrugged his shoulders before looking down on his feet. He put the cigarette to his lips and sucked in hard. "Y'all met 'im?" he sounded, his voice raspy from the smoke escaping his lungs.

Heather bit at the inside of her cheek, frowning a bit at her stupid attempt to have a conversation with him. That topic didn't seem to fit him well. She shook her head and put her lips to the cigarette between her fingers. Daryl's lips had touched that same place her lips were touching and a gentle shiver ran down her spine at the bare thought. What was wrong with her? Again she shook her head at her own stupidity, her senses tickling along.

"Ya cold?" Daryl's voice asked and she soon felt his hand traveling over to tug something around her. His blanket. Without wanting to do so, she scooted closer to him, and felt him stiffen next to her. She could feel his warmth crawl on her skin and yet another shiver went through her body.

"You know," Heather started, her voice slower than usual: "People 'round here don't know who you are."

She immediately regretted saying anything and sucked in a quick breath, as if she could pull the words along with the air. Daryl grunted next to her, his foot starting to jump up and down on the ground beneath them. Her interest grew when he didn't answer her, when he didn't look at her, and she couldn't help but to talk, even if it was just to herself. "They don't know you, Dixon. Only presume what kinda guy you are. But you're not like that. What they think. Right?"

Her words came out short and as she stared into the fire in front of them, she could feel his burning gaze upon her. "What's it to ya?" he spat with an angry voice.

Heather gulped down and felt goose bumps spread on her warm skin. "Just thought, you know. You should show them more of yourself, like, that you're not who they think you are."

Daryl's voice cut her off, the tone hard and irritated: "Y'all don't know me!"

His gaze still burned holes and she kept her eyes on the fire, not wanting to meet the blue intense looks he was sending her. He was mad. Mad at her. She gulped down; both her throat and mouth dry as a dessert. Hadn't they brought something to drink?

"Hey!" Daryl sounded beside her, his hand grabbing around her wrist. She breathed out heavily as she felt his warm hands on her skin, small lightning bolts shooting up through her arm and down to her stomach. She looked over and was surprised to see how close his face was to hers; she could literally feel his hot breath on her lips and she backed off a bit. His eyes held a certain light she couldn't define and she looked down at his hand that still grabbed at her arm.

"Y'all think ya can see through me, huh? Well then know this; Imma sum'bitch who don't take no shit from nobody. 'Specially not some blonde bitch from Seattle."

His words hit her hard, and she felt his hand rip away from her. She looked at him, narrowing her eyes at his clenching jaw. And then his eyes were on her again. "Ya see me as some white trailer trash redneck who can't stand up for'imself, huh? Bitch, ya can kiss my lily white ass, 'cause that's all ya'll get from this."

Daryl's hand clenched into a fist as he looked over to the woods. A small chuckle escaped her lips. His eyes shot back to her, narrowing down at her and another chuckle sounded from her. Confusion flashed across his face. "The hell ya laughing at?" he asked, his voice not sounding as angry as before.

Heather's chuckle turned into a full-out laugh and she put her hands up to cover her face. A mix of a snarl and a chuckle sounded from his chest and she looked at him through her fingers. "Please don't make me kiss your butt," she laughed out.

The whole situation seemed so bizarre; she didn't know this guy and here she was telling him that she should let others know something about him, something she herself even didn't know. Daryl laughed with her know, his shoulders relaxing now that the weird tension between them had evaporated. All of her senses tickled and she tried her hardest to try and stop laughing but it felt like her cheeks were being pulled at, forcing her to smile.

She wasn't in control of her body; she knew that as soon as she felt her head leaning down on the hard surface of Daryl's shoulder. Her eyelids felt heavy and she sighed out in the night. To her surprise Daryl didn't flinch away from her, he simply held still, letting her rest her heavy head on his shoulder. And as soon as she realized that she was actually that close to him, warmth spread through her body, her lips curling up in a small smirk. She didn't wanna push her luck or anything, but she couldn't help to turn her face a bit, so she could steal a glance of his face.

He quickly looked away when he realized he'd been staring at her and Heather noticed a weak blush spread on his cheeks. Again the air between them tensed, the silence pounding in Heather's ear as she scooted herself even closer to the guy sitting next to her, her head still resting on his broad shoulder.

"What'cha doin'?" Daryl said in something close to a whisper as she reached over to let her fingers brush his forearm. The small hair on his arm made her fingertips burn and she smiled lamely at him. She had no idea what was going on inside her head as she leaned closer to him, her eyes gliding over his face to stare at his mouth. He wetted his lips and she could feel hers part slightly as she closed in on him. His heat radiated from him, the muscles of his arms rolled as she reached over to rest her hand on his chest. He breathed out and she felt his breath on her cheek. Her eyes sought his, but he avoided her glaze, looking down on the small hand on his chest, the fingers that slowly curled up to hold the soft fabric of his shirt in a tight hold.

Some part of her brain was shouting at her to stop whatever the fuck she was doing. She knew that this wasn't clever, hell, this was dumb. But another part of her brain had her staring at him, the interesting boy who sat there right next to her and had her move closer and closer, wanting to feel his skin against hers. And she couldn't fight it. The words stumbled out of her mouth, calm and collected, as if she wasn't feeling the turmoil inside of her at all: "Can I kiss you, Dixon?"

His face twitched, his eyes narrowing and his upper lip rising a bit in something that looked like a snarl. His breathing seemed to speed a little as she leaned all the way in, her face inches from his, their noses almost touching. She wetted her lips and looked down at his mouth. She felt her body burn hot, senses insanely active as she closed the distance between them and breathed out. Her lips softly stroked his, the stubble of his chin pricking at hers as fire rocketed around inside her stomach.

She pulled back a bit, her eyes searching for his to ask if it'd been alright. Her breath got caught in her throat when she looked at him. His eyes were halfway closed, his lips parted and his shoulders tense. His eyes opened fully as he realized she was looking at him, and he raised his hand to bite at the skin of his thumb. She reached over, grabbed his wrist in her hand and lifted it over to have it dump down on her shoulder. His fingers twitched and she closed her eyes at the feel of his rough finger tips wipe along her soft skin. His thumb stroked the skin of her neck and she sighed out. The weird tension between them grew more and more intense as he kept his eyes on her, kept stroking the sensitive skin of her neck.

Her body trembled when she felt his breath on her lips and her eyes snapped open to see him inches from her face again, his eyes staring into hers with their piercing blue color. He kissed her now, not as gently as she'd been, and a subtle and breathy moan escaped Heather's lips when she felt his nails claw gently at her shoulder blade. Her blood rushed through her veins as their lips moved against each other, their breathing heavier. She let her hands reach over to grab around the back of his neck, pulling lightly for him to get closer. Daryl's other hand crawled under the blanket that covered both of them to have it pull at the small of her back, tugging her closer too. Heather felt his warm wet tongue lick slowly and awkwardly at her lower lip and she immediately intertwined her tongue with his, forcing Daryl to breathe out quickly in surprise.

It felt good and wrong at the same time. Heather knew she shouldn't be doing this, but that didn't change the fact that her body was burning and longing for this guy. And he seemed to burn for her too.

The hand placed on her shoulder started to glide down her arm and randomly landed on her thigh. The sensation was amazing and Heather smiled into their kiss. She felt him shift nervously on the log, probably not knowing what he was supposed to do with the hand that lay on her thigh. Heather sucked in his lower lip and bit down gently on it, earning a hiss from Daryl. His unsettled hand grabbed at her thigh, his nails dug into her skin and she pulled a little back, smirking at his reaction. Her vision was a bit blurred and her eyes closed when he crashed his lips upon hers again, eagerly entering her mouth once more. Her body leaned into him, and suddenly his hands were grabbing at both her thighs, pulling her up to sit on top of him.

Their tongues worked quicker as his hands stroked her sides, earning a slow shiver to run down her legs. Her back arched without her wanting it to and she threw her arms around his neck, pulling herself even closer to him. The only sound you could hear was the low crackling from the smoldering ember behind her and their ever speeding breathing.

Suddenly Heather felt Daryl's hands cup her breasts and a hiss escaped both of their lips. Her body raced with heat and she grabbed at his broad shoulders, tucking at them as his fingers explored her heaving chest. Their lips parted and Heather let her head fall down on the hard muscles between his shoulder and neck as she tried to get her breath back. Daryl's hands traveled around her torso and swiped down her back to grab at her ass. Roughly, he pulled her closer so her abdomen was pushed close to his. A deep but quiet growl vibrated from his chest as he bucked his hips against her ass and a strange fire shot up from the pit of her stomach.

A female laughter was heard from behind them, sounding from somewhere inside the thick forest that surrounded them. They both froze and Heather felt her breath get caught in her throat.

"Told ya girls like y'all don't stand a chance 'gainst us!" a male voice sounded from somewhere closer than the female laugh that had them both quiet.

"Get off," Daryl snarled and pushed at Heather's chest, forcing her to glide off his thighs.

She breathed out as she sat back down on the tree log and turned her stare back into the fire. An unpleasant feeling grew in her chest as she heard the sound of crumbling twigs and leafs, footsteps coming closer. She stole a last glance of Daryl's face before shrugging off the blanket that had warmed both of them since the others left. His face seemed off, his mouth was formed into a frown but his eyes looked hungry and eager. She put her face in her hands, resting her elbows on her knees as the others entered the small fireplace. She looked up to see a smiling Jessica.

"So…" she started, raising her eyebrows a bit before sitting down, "Y'all had a good time while we was gone?"

Heather heard a small snarl from Daryl that probably only she could hear as she shrugged her shoulders. "Um, yeah," Heather said, "Yeah, a good time."

How the fuck was she gonna let that kiss slide? It had been all too heated for her to just forget. She looked back at Daryl, and his eyes were staring back. _'Not a word'_ was all she could read from them.

She gulped down. _That's easier said than done, Dixon,_ she thought to herself as she looked down at her hands.

_Easier said than done…_


	2. Rumbles in the night

**Hi guys! So here is part two of my little Daryl - oneshot! I got a review from someone asking me to do it, so here you are :-D ****I'm still totally stuck with my story "Yes", buhu :-( I hope I'll see the light soon...  
****As always, please review, follow and favorite. It'll make me the happiest girl in the world! 3****  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Dixon characters. **

**Enjoy! :-)**

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**Rumbles in the night **

"Ya fell in in there? Come on, sweetie, that's my song!" Heather heard the soft voice of Jessica call out from the other side of the bathroom door.

She dried her hands in the towel and quickly glared at her reflection in the mirror. Her face easily revealed the amount of alcohol that buzzed through her system; eyes a little heavy and her cheeks blushing pink. With a sigh and a smile on her lips, she unlocked the door and made her way out into the hall where an impatient Jessica was waiting.

Jess immediately grabbed at Heather's arm and pulled her past the crowded hallway and into the living room where loud speakers were blasting out a song she didn't recognize. _It has to be some Georgian thing_, she thought, because as Heather looked around, a lot of the girls that were dancing on the spot that'd clearly been claimed to be the dance floor for this evening's party all sang along to the rushed lyrics of the now-playing country song. Heather laughed out as Jessica swirled around with waving arms and rocking hips and she felt the flowing heat of the many dancing teens that were shaking their body around her. She felt a little out of place as she tried to dance along to the ever changing rhythm of the song but the alcohol in her veins soon had her forgetting that.

She swayed her head to the sounds of a strident guitar and laughed along with Jessica as they danced together. When the song ended, Jessica took Heather's hands in hers and they both swirled around.

"And ya claimed to be a bad dancer?" Jessica grinned at her a little out of breath, "Honey, then ya aint seen nothin' yet. Ya thirsty? Imma get us some drinks, stay here."

And with those words, Heather was left alone on the dance floor with a heaving chest and burning cheeks. She giggled a little before starting to get the same feeling of being out of place from before. Her eyes wandered over the bad lit room to dozens of faces; half of them she'd never seen before and the other half she'd seen a few times at her new school. She swayed a bit on her feet, a smile still parting her lips. Her eyes roamed over to the corner where Cris had been sitting earlier that evening but instead of finding Cris, her eyes locked with a couple of intense blue ones that had her shivering. Fuck.

What was he doing here?

Daryl Dixon was sitting on a bar stool, looking at her, his eyes hard and burning, earning her smile to quickly fade. She hadn't seen him since that night at the lake.

She gulped down as she reached up her hand to send him a quick wave.

Daryl didn't wave back.

He just kept glaring at her with that stare that only he could pull off. She shifted in her feet as her self-consciousness crept over her like a shadow. Shrugging her shoulders she started to walk over to him, not knowing what else to do with herself. Her mind was exploding as she closed in on him and her blood rushed through her veins with adrenalin, nervousness and alcohol.

"Um hi," she stumbled out in a weak voice as she finally reached him, "uh… you seen Cris somewhere?" She reached her arm up to wipe her hand over the back of her neck as she watched him bite at the skin of his thumb.

"No," he mumbled as he laid his eyes on her again. Her eyes awkwardly dropped to the floor as she searched her mind for something to say. _What do you say in situations like that?_

She heard him breathe out a quick breath and she almost groaned when she saw his expression. Daryl was smirking at her. A husky laugh escaped her lips and her cheeks flushed red under his stare.

"'M makin' ya uncomfortable?" he asked over the music that blasted from the speakers. Heather watched him with questioning eyes.

_Where are you coming from, Dixon?_

A surprised yelp burst from her lips as she felt someone push her from behind and she quickly raised her hands, grabbing out for anything to prevent her from falling down. "Whoa," Daryl breathed as she almost crashed herself against his shoulder. Instead, when she regained control of her body, she found that her hands were firmly planted on his thighs, her nails clawing at the rough fabric of his jeans.

Before she was able to remove them, someone nudged her shoulder and a familiar girly giggle traveled down her ear. "Wow, Dixon. Ya already have her rippin' at ya clothes, must say I'm pretty impressed," Jessica's voice grinned.

Heather wanted to die right then and there, as embarrassment rushed over her face.

Daryl was smirking again and she finally pulled her hands away from his thighs and turned around to greet her grinning friend.

"Nah," Daryl said in a raspy voice, "She was just askin' me 'bout my smokes. She's a smoker, this one, d' know that?"

Heather's mouth fell open and she turned her face to send him an angry glare. "What?" Jess' voice cringed.

Heather felt like smacking both of them a good one right in the face so she could escape this horrid situation.

"Yea," Daryl continued with his burning eyes lingering on Heather's still flushing red cheeks, "I just asked her if she'd join me outside for one, ya know. Catchin' up n' stuff."

Heather could feel both of their stares on her and she sighed out loudly before turning to Jessica. "Yeah, he did. So thanks," she said as she grabbed the beer Jess had gotten her with one hand, the other grabbing the wrist of the smirking Dixon boy next to her, "We'll just be outside." And off they were.

She practically ran through the thick crowd of teens that filled the house, closely followed by a chuckling Daryl, and stumbled out the front door to end up outside on the porch. She put both hands on the railing and breathed out heavily.

That had been the point of no return; she wasn't going to hide whatever was going on between Daryl and her from Jess and Cris anymore. Jess was probably already busy babbling on about how Heather had stalked off with Daryl Dixon to Cris and everyone around them.

"Ya a'right there, girl?" Daryl's voice sounded next to her in its usual raspy manner.

She turned around to watch him smirk at her while pulling out two cigarettes from his pack of Marlborough's before lighting them both and handing one over for her. She placed the cigarette between her fingers and gulped down a healthy swig of her beer before nodding her head. She watched as he strode over to sit down on the bench over by the corner of the porch and quickly looked down at her feet when his eyes met with hers. The too familiar trembling shiver ran down her spine as she felt his stare on her, his burning eyes trying to figure out what she was thinking.

Problem was, she wasn't thinking at all.

The awkwardness hung heavy in the air as she started stalking towards him and she felt as if all eyes in the world were on her when she sat down clumsily. The alcohol in her veins really didn't do anything good for her, did it?

She sighed out before sucking in a long drag of her cigarette. She immediately felt how the nicotine spread in her system which started to make her feel a bit more relaxed. Well, only until she realized she was actually sitting next to Daryl freaking Dixon; the boy she'd kissed, yeah, practically dry humped that night at the lake, who she hadn't seen since but who'd buzzed around in her mind ever since.

She still remembered how his lips had felt on hers and how hot and rough his fingers had felt on her soft skin. Goose bumps spread across her arms as she sat there, and she quickly hugged her arms around her chest.

"Ya need to tell me sum'thin'," his voice sounded in her ear, "How the hell can a girl from Seattle be cold here n' Georgia?"

She felt his hand nudge at her arm and she shivered once more. "'M not cold," she admitted, mumbling into her beer bottle.

She was everything else but cold; cheeks burning, hot breath and fire racing through her veins. _Yep, nothing cold about her at all._

"Then why th'fuck ya shaking n' stirrin' all the time? Ya arms look like the ass of a goose for Christ's sake!"

She closed her eyes as a wide smile crept over her lips._ As if I could tell you, Dixon_, she thought to herself before gulping down some beer. Obviously avoiding his question, she turned her face to look at him. He looked a bit tired; eyes darker than usual and his eyelids hung lower than they did the last time she'd seen him. His light brown hair was shagging in his eyes, making him look a bit ragged.

"Rough day?" she asked as a cloud of smoke rolled over his lips. His eyes met with hers and seemed to pierce through her, making her regret asking and even opening her mouth. But after what seemed to be minutes of silence, he nodded his head saying: "Yea. Merle's been naggin' me about not helpin' him out too much wit'his bike. Dog won't let me sleep."

Heather was surprised that he was telling her this; telling her something about himself. He didn't strike her as someone who opened up to anyone; especially not a girl he didn't really know. But she was thrilled that he did; her interest in him hadn't declined one bit ever since she met him.

"Yet here you are, partying?" she grinned, earning a smirk from him. He shrugged his shoulders, those freakishly broad shoulders, before he turned in his seat, his knee touching hers lightly, saying: "Yea, well, I aint his bitch. He can fix his own goddamn bike."

Out of the corner of her eye, Heather could see his shoulders tensing and his fist clenching a little. She frowned. It didn't really sound like Daryl's big brother was a good man in particular. All the rumors about Merle and the Dixon dad really freaked her out; a couple of days ago, when Heather and her dad had driven by the Dixon's workshop, he'd said: "Sweetheart, I want you to stay away from that place, you hear me? I've heard nothing but bad things about the men working there. Okay?"

And she'd obliged; told him that she was never gonna go near them. Well, Merle Dixon and the dad that is. Because Daryl was different, she could just tell.

Even though everyone thought he was just like Merle and his dad, Heather could feel that there was this special 'thing' about him, this good thing. She just hadn't figured out what that was yet.

"So," Heather tried out again, wanting to change the subject so he wouldn't get any more tensed up than he already was, "about last time…" She bit her lip.

_Wow, way to go; start a sentence you don't know how to end, that's my girl…_ She rolled her eyes at herself before taking a drag from her cigarette. She imagined there would be a big fat smirk on Daryl's lips and was surprised when she glared at him to see his face completely calm and collected.

He waved his hand at her, saying: "Yea, yea, we was both high, I get it. Sometimes weed just does that to ya, aint no big deal."

Her eyes widened. So that was how he felt? Like it was no big deal and that he'd already forgotten it? She swallowed hard as she felt a weird constriction in her throat. She hadn't forgotten it. Not at all. Even though she felt really embarrassed to admit it to herself, Daryl had actually been on her mind quite a lot after that night, and she hadn't regretted kissing him. Not when she remembered how her body had reacted to everything he'd done and said.

But at least now she knew how he felt about it, about her.

"Sum'thin' wrong there?" he asked her, waking her up from her current staring contest with the wooden planks that was the floor of the porch.

"Uh, no, I just, uh, no, nothing's wrong."

She could hear him chuckle. _Damn you, Dixon._

"Not much of a talker, are we?"

Her eyes shot back to him. His eyebrows were raised at her and one corner of his mouth was curled upwards. "I could say the same thing about you," Heather raised at him, cocking her eyebrows just as he'd done.

Daryl snarled at her and turned his gaze out over the street. After some time with a deafening and stroppy silence, Heather sighed out and got up on her feet. She had to find Jess and Cris and ask them if they wanted to take off. Although she knew they were gonna throw questions at her about Daryl like maniacs, she just had to get out of there. But before she made it to the front door, she heard him call out: "Ey!"

She stopped in her tracks and quickly turned around only to gasp out in surprise at how close he suddenly was to her. His face was inches from hers and his eyes were burning, the famous Dixon-glare making her feel very small. His hand reached up, almost touching her shoulder, before he let it dump back down to hang lazily at his side. He chewed at the inside of his cheek, obviously in turmoil about something he wanted to say. "I, uh… I don't," Daryl tried, his voice low and deep, "I don't regret it, ya know. Us, um… our kiss."

Her eyes widened and she quickly sought some kind of distraction to his burning glaze, so she zoomed in on the small mole over his mouth. But when she saw him wet his lips out of the corner of her eye, she closed them and another shiver waved over her entire body. She heard him hiss out.

"See, y'all doin' that thing again. Look." Her breath caught in her throat as she felt his rough fingertips run over the sensitive skin of her collarbone. The feeling was maddening. Her voice came out low and breathy as she admitted: "S' you. You're causing it."

And then she just stood there, waiting with her eyes closed, scared of his reaction to her weird confession. She heard him grunt.

"Ya tellin' me… that I'm the reason ya shake and shiver all the time?"

She slowly nodded with her eyes still closed. She could feel his heat beam off of him as they stood there, the music from inside the house escaping an open window close to them. She just knew he was gonna laugh his ass off in a moment, just… A quiet yelp sounded from her throat when she felt his fingertips stride over her collarbone again. Her cheeks flushed red as she felt goose bumps spread out over her skin.

"'S it bad?" he asked her.

She shook her head and bit down on her lower lip. Another stroke of his calloused fingers had her exhaling a breath she didn't know she'd been holding in. "Damn," Daryl breathed which had her lips parting as his hot breath waved over them.

His raspy voice caused something to shoot through her body; a feeling she didn't recognize and she opened her eyes to look at him. He looked angry, eyes hard and narrowed down at her. Before she knew it, he was pulling her off the porch and over the lawn, away from the house.

She had too much alcohol in her blood to realize what really was happening and she giggled out when she felt herself gently being pushed up something hard. A tree maybe. He was leaning in close to her; his arms on both sides of her head just above her shoulders, supporting his weight on the hard surface behind her. It was dark so she couldn't really make out his facial expression but she could hear his breathing. Calm and collected.

Something in the back of her mind screamed something at her; an alarm telling her to be careful.

But when his lips softly swayed down the skin of her neck, she pushed that something out of her mind. She felt his tongue lick its way over her collarbone and she almost moaned when he gently bit down on the sensitive area between her neck and shoulder. She'd wanted this ever since their last meeting at the lake and her body was happily arching closer to him.

She threw her hands around his torso and pulled him closer. His body crashed with hers and their lips finally met.

That same strange feeling shot down her body and exploded in the pit of her stomach, causing her to pull her head back. But Daryl didn't hesitate; he worked his mouth, lips, tongue and teeth over her neck and shoulders while his hands started stroking her trembling thighs. She leaned her head back against the hard surface behind her and panted out into the night.

Daryl just did something to her, made her feel like she'd never felt before, and she couldn't help but to just lean back and enjoy it. Even though she didn't really know him all too well, she felt like they shared something together; a strange connection that caused her to feel so helpless under his touch. And when his hands cupped her breasts so tenderly there in the dark night, earning her back to arch, she knew that he felt it too.

"Ya fuckin' taste like the rain," Daryl rasped into her ear as he grabbed her butt with both hands and pulled at it, making her abdomen crash with his.

She literally moaned out when she felt… him, hard against her thigh. She'd never been this close to a boy, never felt someone do all those things to her, and she giggled out silently, surprised, when she felt a sticky wetness form between her legs.

"Daryl, please…" she whispered, not knowing what she was pleading him for. She just knew she wanted more. She heard him growl low in his chest when she clawed her nails down his back. She felt one of his hands leave her body to pull at the tight fabric of his jeans between his legs. A bubbling sensation filled her chest and while biting her lower lip, she too let her hand reach down to grab at the bulging hardness.

"Ah, fuck," he hissed into her ear when she felt at him, nudged it, and his other hand that had been busy roaming her upper body tightened around her shoulder.

She moaned at his reaction to her touch and she started to rub her hand at him, up and down the zipper of his jeans. He hissed out.

He tossed her hand to the side, grabbed her butt and lifted her from the ground, pushing her roughly up the hard surface behind her and crashed himself against her, pressing the hardness between his legs against her pelvis.

"Yes," she panted. She couldn't get him close enough.

Suddenly she was put down on the ground again, her legs trembling with the sudden weight and sensations that was currently running through her entire body and her eyes widened when she heard the sound of a zipper going down.

Panic quickly flowed through her veins as she felt Daryl's hands starting to work at her skirt, pulling it upwards and before she knew it, he was grabbing her shoulders and roughly turned her around to face the hard surface. She could smell it as she leaned her face against it; it was a tree.

They were in the woods, away from all of the others, away from the party and away from the house. Her friends.

It was when she heard the sound of Daryl's pants gliding down his thighs that her heart started to beat faster. Were they… were they gonna have sex? Was this really what it was? Did she want this?

But when she felt Daryl's warm calloused hands gently glide over her thighs, traveling up to her butt cheeks and the same burning sensation exploded in the pit of her stomach, she stopped thinking.

All that was in her mind was the mysterious boy behind her and how good he was making her feel. She gasped out when she felt something hot and unfamiliar glide over her underwear. Hands pressed at her back, making her bent over a little before she felt them pull down her panties. But no alarm rang through her mind as she put her hands up on the tree for support, nothing telling her to be careful of what was coming.

She felt the same hot and hard unfamiliar thing glide over her now bare bottom, and without her wanting to, her back arched, pushing herself closer to the hot curious thing that was exploring between her legs.

When it glided through her tender folds and along her slick wetness, a muffled moan escaped her lips as she bit down on her lower lip. Daryl's breathing had gotten heavier; it almost sounded like he was panting behind her. "Ya want… this?" he breathed behind her, his voice cracking at the last word.

Her body was on fire; booze and anticipation had her nodding. And then she felt him enter her.

She muffled a pained cry when she felt his size glide through her core, way too big for her to handle. It felt like he was splitting her, tearing her apart inch by inch and she couldn't help but to whimper softly.

"'M hurtin' ya?" Daryl breathed softly behind her, his voice low and raspier than ever, and she felt his thumbs circle on the skin of her hips, soothing her.

She shook her head and gulped down.

There was no way she was gonna tell him that it hurt like hell. Because when she heard how his breathing hitched, the hissing sounds that crept into her ear, she knew that this was what he wanted. And she wanted to give it to him. Make him feel wanted.

She almost sighed in relief when she felt him pull out but soon curled her toes as he pushed himself back in, splitting her just as slowly as before. Daryl groaned behind her.

"Ah, ya feel… ah," he stuttered and she felt his hands on her hips tighten, his fingers digging into her skin.

She tried to focus on something else, her surroundings; how the warm night breeze gently swayed over the forest floor, swirling the leaves around, and how you could only just hear the music from the house where the party was at, how the teens that were outside chatted and laughed over a cigarette and how the weak sound of a rumbling motorcycle on the street rattled along with the bass of the music. She felt Daryl push himself inside her again and her hands tightened around the dry bark of the tree.

How long did this normally take? she thought to herself as Daryl's hands reached up to cup her breasts.

He was getting more aggressive now, his thrusts harder and rougher and she felt like her insides were gonna rip soon if he didn't stop. He panted into her ear and she closed her eyes as she felt shivers run down her spine again and again. The sound of the rumbling motorcycle seemed to have increased as Daryl rocked her back and forth; as if the sounds of people laughing were getting louder and louder. Or was it even laughter?

"Daryl," Heather breathed, her voice almost just being a whimper. "Mh," he answered.

It wasn't laughter. It was yells.

People were yelling back at the house. But Daryl hadn't seemed to notice, he was still grabbing at her body and pushing himself into her. He suddenly hit something inside of her that had her cry out.

What the hell was that?

She shook her head, focusing back on what had alarmed her just before, and she was gonna stop him, she really was, but when she felt him push himself up in her once more, he hit that something again.

She moaned out as pleasure washed over her, her legs trembling from the unfamiliar growing feeling in her belly. She felt his pace quicken in reaction to her moans, and her head fell down between her shoulders as he hit that magical spot almost every time he thrust into her.

"God," she cried out slowly, her voice breaking from the force of his thrusts. "Huh," he breathed out behind her, his movements becoming ragged, his pace quickening, desperate, and she shut her eyes and closed her mouth as both pain and pleasure rolled through her entire body.

"I'm there," Daryl practically whimpered and she felt him tremble behind her, shudder, as he stopped breathing while desperately pounding himself into her in an uneven rhythm.

And she moaned as she realized what was happening, heat flushing over her as he released inside of her.

It wasn't long before he pulled out of her, earning a small whimper to escape her, and she felt something warm travel slowly down her inner thigh.

As she stood there, overwhelmed by all the sensations that were running through her heated body, she heard him pull up his pants. She awkwardly pushed down her skirt and pulled up her panties before she turned around to watch him. He'd already lit a cigarette and his eyes were on her, burning as always but with a different light to them now. Softer, maybe…

"Something's happening," she managed to croak out while raising her hand up to point back to the house, "Someone's yelling."

The facial expression on Daryl's face quickly told her what he thought about that. He couldn't care less.

His eyes fell to the ground where he mindlessly kicked at a small pile of leaves while a cloud of smoke left his lungs.

Heather bit down on her lip. That hadn't really been the smartest thing to say, had it? 'Hey, we just had sex but all I could think about was the fact that someone's yelling back at the party'… _Stupid._

"Um," she started but when she felt his staring glare at her once more, she clasped her lips shut.

"Ya don't… ya don't gotta say anythin' 'bout it." His eyes fell to the forest floor again.

She frowned. "Daryl, I…"

"It your first time?" he cut her off. Heather stared at him for a moment before she nodded with eyes closed.

"Yea, mine too," he said. _Come again, now?_ she thought, raising her widened eyes at him. He shrugged his shoulders.

_Wow…_ She would never have thought that Daryl was a virgin. Well, obviously not anymore, but not before either. She'd always seen him as that type of guy that, you know, did those kinda things. A small smile curled at her lips.

"Heather, I real…" Daryl froze in the middle of his sentence as the sound of a motorcycle again rumbled from the other side of the trees. Heather confusedly tried to read his expression but all she could see was a look of fear.

_Fear?_

"Fuck!" Daryl hissed, and in the blink of an eye he started running down towards the house.

Heather felt like she'd been struck by lightning; her body froze and her heart sank. Did he just… fucking leave her?! "What the fuck?!" she yelled after him but it only seemed to reach the darkness of the night.

Daryl was nowhere to be seen. She felt anger wash over her cheeks as she realized what he'd just done to her; seduced her, brought her out in the woods, seduced her some more, fucked her, he fucking took her virginity, and then he just left her there. Left her to feel like shit; like some trashy little… whore.

Her eyes started pricking. She felt her legs shake and she quickly sat down on the cool forest floor and breathed out staggered.

_Is he seriously that kinda guy? Has everyone around me been fucking right when they told me to stay away from the Dixon's, including Daryl_?

She shook her head as she felt the tears starting to stream down her cheeks and her stomach starting to burn. She threw up three times before she was able to get up again.

She felt she was swaying more than a ship over the Atlantic Ocean when she stumbled her way over the lawn that stretched up to the house. A sigh of relief immediately escaped her lips as she saw the worried face of Cristina scout out from the porch. Heather couldn't get any words out over her swollen lips, so she just waved her hands, hoping Cris would notice. And boy, did she notice.

"Heather?! Where the fuck ya been? I've been worryin' sick 'bout yo' ass! Seriously, what the fuck?!"

Heather felt like shit. If she hadn't cried her eyes dry back in the woods, she would probably have been much more dramatic than she was acting now. Her voice sounded flat, when she heard herself mumble: "Daryl."

Cris' eyes widened. Worry was written all over her heart-shaped face. "Dixon?" she asked in a small voice.

Heather nodded and sighed out. Her heart felt heavy as pictures of Daryl flew past her eyes. _Fucking shithead Dixon._

"No," Cris said, shaking her head, "ya can't have been with him, he's just been here?"

Heather woke from her dazed state of hating on Daryl and looked back up at Cris. "What?"

She nodded, her voice shaky as she said: "Uh, yea. Merle was here, yabbin' about, searchin' for Daryl. He fuckin' punched someone?! Ya believe that? Knocked Miles out, left him to bleed back inside in the kitchen. If Daryl hadn't shown up, I dunno whata' happened."

An uncomfortable shiver ran down Heather's spine as it all started to make sense now; the yelling from the house, the motorcycle, Daryl running away from her… She swallowed down hard. "So, where's Daryl now?" Heather asked with big eyes.

Cris shrugged her shoulders, saying: "Prob'ly somewhere with his jackass of a brother. I tell ya, next time I see Merle? Imma give him a taste of my knuckles, see if he like'em."

Cris was breathing hard, her lips formed into a tight line and both her fists were clenched. Heather tried to soothe her by putting a gently hand on her shoulder. Cris' eyes met with hers and Heather noticed they were getting a bit red, something wet sparkling at the corners.

She continued in her babbling stage of rage and despair: "And Daryl? That jerk, he just stared at'em like the blank idiot he fuckin' is. Didn't do or say nothin', he just let Merle fuckin' hit Miles. They're friends, Heather?! But he's too much of a pussy to do anythin' 'bout it." She snorted and spat on the grass below the porch.

Something clinched a little on the inside of Heather's chest. She didn't like to hear Cris talk like that. Especially not about him…

"And then," Cris continued, her words still heated and rushed, "Ha! Even though I fuckin' hate Merle, I loved him for doin' that to him." Her knuckles burned white because of Cris clenching her fists so tight.

"To who?" Heather asked in a high-pitched voice.

Cris rolled her eyes: "Daryl, 'course. Merle grabbed him by the neck like the little bitch he is, dragged him the hell outta here. Prob'ly gonna get himself some more of them bruises he always has on his arms. 'Specially if his dad finds out."

Heather's eyes widened. Oh no…


	3. Jerk of a lifetime

**Hi y'all! ;-) So there's part three of my little... yeah, I can't really call it a oneshot anymore, can I? Hm. Anyway, I know this chapter is probably a little different from the two others but I really felt that I needed to get it out there. So please everyone, let me know what you think!**

**You are all the only reason why I didn't just leave it at the first chapter which I really had intended at first. I want to give a big shout out to Alnihan and Monikou for following and leaving a review! You guys are amazing! And a big thanks to Monikou for also favoriting; you are awesome! And a last hug for Maddy-MarieXO for reviewing :-) **

**I hope you all enjoy! 3**

* * *

**Jerk of a lifetime**

"Ya had sex with the Dixon boy?!"

Heather sat on the soft bed with legs crossed and stared at the ceiling above her; she'd finally pulled herself together and told Jessica the truth about what happened last night. Jess was currently in some stage of shock; she was staring at Heather with widened eyes and an open mouth, frozen at the foot of the bed where she was sitting.

Heather couldn't really blame her for the astonished expression that covered her face; Heather couldn't wrap her head around it either. It wasn't like her at all, stalking off from her friends with a boy she'd only exchanged a couple of words with, let him take her to the woods, take her up a tree, take her virginity…

She shrugged her shoulders before letting her eyes drop to stare at her thighs. She was still sitting in her pajamas; shorts and an old oversize t-shirt. She, Jess and Cristina had spent the day cursing their hangovers far, far away; watching some episodes of a new television show and eating all the nasty snacks Jess' mom had bought for them.

Her parents were out of town for the weekend so the three of them had quickly claimed their big house. Cris was gonna bring them tacos from Taco Bell for dinner tonight when she was off from her work down at Jill's. She worked there as a waiter; a job she hated but couldn't quit because she needed the money. She hated it because of all the creepy types that came there. She always referred to them as 'the regulars' and boy, had Heather heard some stories from that place. She'd promised herself never to go there.

"Oh honey, what were ya thinkin'?!"

Heather shook her head and narrowed her eyes back to Jessica while fiddling with the shredded hem of her t-shirt. "I, um… I don't know," she croaked out, reaching her hands up to cover her face.

She really had no clue.

She heard Jess sigh out loudly and she felt her shift her weight on the mattress of the double bed they'd shared for the night. "Ya like 'im?"

Heather gulped down. She didn't know that either.

On one hand she wished that she could say no; that he was a jackass that had taken her virginity and then left her to feel like shit, alone in the woods. On the other hand she knew herself well enough to know that she couldn't say no; there was something so mysterious and attractive about him that made her curious for him, curious of getting to know him, to be with him. So once more she shrugged her shoulders: "I really don't know, Jess. I'm so confused about it. I mean, I know I shouldn't but..." She sighed.

Jess was nodding her head: "Yea. Ya have to be real' careful with them Dixon boys," a couple of muted minutes hung thick in the air before she continued on, "They're not famous for bein' nice to the ladies. Rumors say the dad beat the momma for many years, b'fore she was finally able to escape."

Heather tasted bile in her mouth as Jess' words sunk in. Her chest stung a bit when a few pictures of Daryl flew past her eyes; the mean and hard stares he always carried around with him, his tensing shoulders and his clenching fists. And last night Cris had told her how Merle had dragged him roughly out of the house by the neck and that he was probably gonna get bruises when he got home. Poor boy…

She could feel Jess' eyes on her again. "Um, honey, I just feel the need to ask'ya this…"

Heather could see she was choosing her words carefully. "He, uh… He didn't, ya know… push ya or anythin', did he?"

Heather's eyes widened and her breath got caught in her throat. "What?! No! He would never do that!"

It felt as if cold liquid slimed down her spine when she saw the strange expression that formed on Jessica's face. She asked herself the question that flowed the air around them; 'Would he?'

She shook her head. _No, he wouldn't. He is not like that._

After a long moment filled with silence, Jess scooted over to lie on her stomach, her face turned at Heather, her body language now completely different. Heather smiled weakly at her. "What?"

Jess giggled out girlishly and hid the half of her face with a pillow, only her eyes peeping over the pink cotton sheet. "Was he big?" her tiny voice cringed.

A deep flush quickly rose to Heather's cheeks and a wide grin spread across her lips. "Jessica?!" she threw her arm out at her giggling friend. Embarrassment had her blood boil slightly and she curled her toes. "I'm not telling you that! Seriously…"

Jess laughed out and rolled over to lie on her back, her eyes mischievous and shining brightly with curiousness. "Aw, come on, girl! Ya gotta give me some details! How was it?"

Heather bit down on her lower lip, a smile still creeping on her lips. "Weird," she admitted while recalling the many different feelings he'd made her feel, "Both good and bad at the same time. I mean, it hurt like hell."

Jess nodded for her to continue. She sighed out but obliged: "It just… fuck, the first time he…" she rolled her eyes dramatically, hoping that Jess would understand what she meant, "All I wanted was just to push him off and run away screaming."

Jess laughed out and nodded her head in agreement. "Yea, sounds like ma' first time with Jimmy right there."

Heather grinned and pulled her fingers through her hair. "But then, at the end, it was actually getting pretty good. But then he… you know."

Jess' mouth opened in a wide grin and she threw her arms in the air. "Ha! The Dixon boy's a quickie!"

Heather furrowed her brows at her friend. "Don't say that. He held out for a pretty long time. It was perfe..." She rapidly closed her lips. Blood rushed upwards to redden her already burning cheeks. Was she ever gonna learn to keep her mouth shut?

"What'cha say there, girl? Perfect?"

A quick silence that almost had Heather throwing herself out of the window settled between them. Until Jess burst in laughter. "Aw you're so far in!" And then some more laughter.

Heather wanted to die. The 'throwing yourself out of the window' actually sounded quite tempting to her at this point. Or being struck by lightning.

With a smile still parting her lips, Jessica gazed at her before asking something that had Heather's blood run cold: "So… Do ya always carry 'round condoms or did Daryl have one?"

…

_Fuck._

_Crap._

_Shit and tomatoes._

_Condoms?!_

A pounding silence fell between the two girls as Heather blankly stared out into the room while a growing horror filled her stomach. They hadn't used one…

Jessica was breathing calmly and her eyes were closed as she spoke: "Heather? Honey, please answer my question. Pretty darn important that ya do that as of fuckin' right now."

But Heather was in shock. A small tickly pearl of sweat traveled down her chin. _No, no, no, no, no..._ "I'm pregnant," Heather stammered.

She just knew it. She could feel it, growing there in her belly, and her hands quickly flew over to cover her flat tummy before her eyes sailed back over to stare at her friend. "I'm fucking pregnant, aren't I?"

But Jess didn't answer. She just stared at her. Why the fuck hadn't she thought about this?! Was she completely out of her goddamned mind?

Condoms: remember condoms, always wear a condom, better safe than sorry, all of that crap; why hadn't she thought about it? How stupid could she be? How was it possible for her to be so mindless and reckless? And Daryl? He hadn't even fucking asked her about it?! He'd just slipped it right in her, left his sticky child-bearing yucky seed in her and just thought to himself 'Hurray for no condoms!', hadn't he? _Jerk!_

Heather couldn't breathe. She couldn't think about nothing but the child that was apparently developing in her belly; _does it have a heart beat yet?_

She gasped out, and finally allowed some oxygen to fill her lungs, when Jess got up from the bed. Jess was running around wildly, manically pulling a pair of slim fit jeans over her yoga pants. What the fuck was she doing? "Heather, get up! We're gon' go get some pills for ya, now!"

But Heather just shook her head. "I haven't got any money," she whispered, horror still the only thing showing on her face. Jess grabbed her by the arm and pulled her up on her feet. "Cris. She's gon' help ya out, babe. Just… Come on!"

It wasn't until the door to the passenger's seat of the car was ripped open and she was being pulled out of the car that Heather awoke from her state of shock. A big red sign that read "Jill's" hung over their heads as the two girls made their way to enter the bar where Heather's savior was at. An uncomfortable chill ran down her spine as Heather's eyes wandered over the small bar; it was very poorly lit, the dark wooden floors were dirty and it was only inhabited by creepy old men with big tummies.

Heather gulped down hard as she was pulled over to stand by the bar, Jessica already yelling at the bartender to go get Cris.

Oh my god. Cris didn't even know.

Heather hadn't told her, only Jess. She'd wanted Jess to be the first to know because she was afraid of how Cris was gonna react. She still remembered how the hatred for the Dixon brothers had shined out of Cris' eyes last night, when she'd told Heather about what had happened. 'Jackass, pussy and bitch' were only some of the words she'd used to describe them. She was gonna be so mad.

But apparently, Heather was wrong: when Jess had laid it out there; told her how stupid Heather had been, Cris had just looked at her, her eyes sad but never judging, before she'd slipped some money into Jess' hands. "Call me as soon as ya get home, ya hear?" was all she said.

Heather's feet were shaky yet heavy as concrete bricks when she and Jess turned around to leave the bar. She couldn't get it in her head; was she actually one of those stupid girls you always hear about on TV? Going to underage parties and getting knocked up by some random guy at age eighteen only to end up alone with a crying baby in your arms?

When they got home, Heather took a pregnancy test; it was negative. But she swallowed the 'morning after' pills anyway; she was not gonna just hope for the best, she was gonna make sure that she didn't make any mistakes like that again. And she was gonna do everything she could to stay away from that Dixon boy. He didn't cause anything else but trouble anyway…

* * *

"Ah!" Heather shrieked out loudly as the purple lightning that was Cris' bumper car fired dangerously close to her green one, and she manically grabbed the wheel to steer away from her but without luck. All the air in her lungs were feverishly pushed out of her by the seatbelt that ran along her chest as Cris bumped into her with a loud thudding noise.

"Booyah!" Cris' voice rang out over the platform where both kids and teens were happily laughing, driving around like crazies in the small theme station.

Out of the corner of her eye, Heather could see Jess laughing her ass off, still snapping photos of them like an insane retired photographer trying to get back into business. Heather's grip on the wheel tightened as she pushed the pedal down and felt how the car again took off towards the mass of flying colors and wide grins.

She was gonna get back at Cris, fuck that girl had it coming, and she steered herself close to the edge of the platform, trying to hide herself in the crowd. And when she saw Cris scouting over the dozen of cars there on the other side of the platform, a wide grin parted her lips and while successfully avoiding all of the other bumper cars, she closed in on her. _Just a little farther and then…_

"Aw, come on?!" she yelled out as her car slowed without her even tilting her foot on the pedal. The ride had ended and all the kids started running around wildly, hoping to get back in line before all the others so they could continue snapping the necks of all their friends.

Heather got up on her feet and grinned at Cris: "I was totally gonna get you there, Cris. You're so unbelievably lucky, you know that?"

A weird expression on Cris' face had Heather slowing down a bit as she closed in on her through the mass of teens and kids. When Cris' eyes flickered nervously to Heather and she laughed out falsely, sounding more like a hurt puppy than anything else, the smile on Heather's face faltered a bit. Something was wrong. "Why are you looking like someone who has seen the ghost of your dead boyfriend?"

After a short moment of silence Cris breathed out and turned her gaze to smile at her. "Oh it's nothin', dear. Come on, the boys are here!"

Heather's eyes widened as she watched Cristina run over the now empty platform to where Jess was waiting for them.

The boys were there…

Heather felt her heart speed just a little as she gazed upon the crowd of boys that had surrounded Jess, and now also Cristina, and she rapidly scanned the group; Miles, Joseph, Zach and Jackson. Not him. He wasn't there. Daryl wasn't there.

She sighed out in relief and also started walking over to greet their friends. "Hi guys," she chirped out in a smile while wrapping her arm around Jess' shoulders. They all greeted her and the group decided to get themselves some snacks down by the food stand of the newly arrived carnival.

The football field that had currently been transformed into a lively carnival was buzzing with loud cringing noises, kids' laughter and the smell of metal, sugar and popcorn, and Heather smiled at herself as she sat on a bench enjoying the warmth of the Georgian sun together with a delicious caramel ice cream.

She suddenly felt the presence of another one sitting down next to her on the bench and turned her head to gaze at a smirking Jackson. He nodded his head at her before he too turned his glaze out over the colorful scene before them. "Ya almost had her. A shame ya didn't get to smack her one before the ride ended," he said with his nasal voice.

She giggled out while nodding her head, saying: "Yeah, I'm planning on taking her to the Ferris wheel and then pretend to throw her out up at the top, see if she likes that."

Jackson laughed warmheartedly and leaned back, reaching his arms up to rest on the backrest of the bench. Heather scooted herself slightly forward.

"So," Jackson smiled, his golden brown eyes lingering on her face, "Didn't see ya down at Miles' party last week. Thought ya said ya were gon' come?"

She narrowed her eyes a bit at him, licking her dripping ice cream. "I was there," she told him while silently cursing him for bringing that topic up. That night, actually that whole weekend had been one of the weirdest of her life. When she thought back to it, she couldn't really grasp that it had truly happened to her and wasn't just part of some bad teenage drama movie she'd seen. She shrugged her shoulders, trying to shake out the visions of that night that were currently flashing before her eyes; dancing with Jessica, intense blue eyes burning hot on her skin, alcohol pumping through her veins, the wet sticky feeling between her legs, dry bark scraping her palms, the feeling of Daryl inside of her, Merle hitting Miles, the 'almost' pregnancy… Ugh. Jackson really knew how to chit chat, didn't he?

She heard him grunt next to her. "Wish I'd known. Prettiest girl in town at a party and I didn't even got the chanc' of talkin' to her. Whata' shame."

Out of the corner of her eye she could see him winking at her, but she didn't look at him. What was he doing? Was he actually flirting with her? "You're out of your mind," Heather simply grinned before looking back at Jess and Cris that were eating pink cotton candy while not using their hands. Heather giggled out as she watched the expressions of the boys that surrounded them; _two girls, one cotton candy._ They were almost gaping.

"Uh oh, here comes trouble," Jackson chuckled next to her and Heather turned around to see what he was talking about.

At first she didn't see him; her eyes had happily avoided his staring glaze, but it didn't take them long to dawdle over to the boy that was slowly approaching them.

She gasped when she narrowed her eyes at him; Daryl looked horrible. His blonde hair was covered in what seemed to be dirt and soil and it was clasping tightly at his sweaty face. His arms were smeared with something similar to mud, glistening palely in the sun. His upper lip was pulled back in some sort of snarl and over his left cheekbone a sickening purple bruise gave the impression of a dark flower was blooming there.

As he got closer, she ripped her eyes off of him and turned them down to stare at the empty cup between her thighs where her ice cream once had been. What the hell had happened to him?

The same question sounded out from behind her, Zach's voice ringing out loudly: "Yo, D! The hell's happen'd to ya? Ya fell into the creek?"

A low rumbling of laughter sounded throughout the small group of friends gathered around the bench where Heather and Jackson were sitting. But Heather didn't laugh. She didn't even smile.

"Shut your face, Zacharias!" Daryl gnarled and Heather immediately felt his burning stare on her but she didn't look up, "Been out huntin' with Merle. Just came here to… say 'm sorry Miles, 'bout last Friday night. Shoulda done sum'thin' about it, but… ya know Merle, he's just…"

"I know, man," Miles sighed out, and Heather turned her eyes back at him to see him flinching a bit, the pain from his split eyebrow obvious on his face. She heard Jackson snort.

"Oughta keep that asshole on a leash there, D. The man's out'right a nut-job," Jackson grunted in his nasal voice, earning a hard and mean stare from Daryl. Heather saw his fists clench.

"What'cha call my brother?" Daryl growled as he took a step forward, pushing his chest out a little and tensing his broad shoulders. Jackson stood up and pushed his chest out too, and stared down at Daryl who was already only inches from him, Jackson obviously being both taller and broader than Daryl. Heather looked up at both of them with horror flushed over her face.

Jackson laughed out pathetically as he answered the angered Dixon boy: "I said, ya oughta…" "Enough!" Joseph yelled out, already surprisingly close to the two hotheads, trying to separate them by pushing them away from each other.

Heather felt her heart beat heavy in her chest as the situation was quickly developing into something that shouldn't happen while kids were running happily around them. Jackson was still huffing out his chest like some angry cock watching over his chickens as Daryl backed off a bit. "Whatever," Daryl waved at him and then his eyes fell down to Heather's.

She felt her blood freeze as she saw his expression; hurt, pained, angered. She was actually a bit scared of him. And then he turned around and started walking away.

Heather breathed out along with the rest of the group. Jackson took a deep breath before sitting back down on the bench while waving his hand in Daryl's direction, saying: "Yea, he aint got no balls anyway, that son of a bitch."

Heather saw Joseph shake his head at Jackson: "Man, I wouldn't say that. Boy's a fighter, ya gotta watch out with that one."

Jackson just grunted and reached his arms back over to lean on the backrest of the bench again, his hand touching Heather's shoulders. "Ya a'right, Heather?"

Heather could feel her blood boil. _Jack-fucking-ass_. She turned her face to him, rolling her eyes heavily before she got up on her feet. "Why don't you mind your own goddamned business and keep your hands off me? Urgh!"

And then she started running after Daryl.

She had to talk to him, had to see how he was doing, ask him about…

She shook her head at herself as she finally closed in on him; she actually didn't know what she wanted with him, she just knew she had to talk to him. "Daryl, wait up!" she called out behind him.

But he didn't slow down; he just kept on walking fast paced towards the exit with his shoulders tensed. Heather sighed out in irritation and she closed the distance between them by laying her hand on his shoulder.

He flinched away from her, crouching a little, before his eyes met with hers. "Keep your hands off me," he snarled at her before he continued to walk away from her.

Heather stood still, her eyes wide in surprise. "What the fuck are you doing?!" she yelled loudly after him, and out of the corner of her eyes she could see the judging stares of many parents walking with their kids. She couldn't care less.

Once more she ran up to him and this time she grabbed his shoulder hard and pulled him roughly around to face her. Her angered expression faltered a bit when she saw his frowning mouth. This boy was so damaged, she couldn't even be angry at him.

So as Daryl stopped before her, and looked at her, waiting for her to speak her mind, she shifted her feet nervously and felt her heart pound in her chest. "Um…" she stammered out under his stare, "You, uh… Are you alright?"

He rolled his neck and turned his face to glare over towards the exit that was only a few feet away now. "Aint none o' your business," he growled deep in his chest while shrugging his shoulders.

It felt like a stone had been placed in her stomach and she gasped in some air to keep her head straight. She wasn't going to let him just let everything that had been, or still was, between them slide. So she cleared her throat and laid it out there: "You can't just do that."

She was surprised at how determined and confident she sounded. On the inside, she felt like a little scared girl that was about to get a major ass-whooping from her dad.

"Do what?" Daryl practically seethed out through his teeth.

Heather sighed and closed her eyes as she said: "You know, pretend that you care and then just… disappear."

She heard him sigh out and saw his feet shuffling a bit on the dry grass of the football field. "Aint never cared for no one 'cept m'self. Never will."

Heather felt something tense inside her throat. Was he seriously pulling that card? She looked back into his eyes and did everything she could to imitate the glare he was sending her. "Then why'd you do it?"

Daryl grunted out something between a snarl and a chuckle as he wiped his hand over his neck. "Ya mean, why'd I fuck ya?"

A heavy silence fell between them; as if they were the only ones standing there on the football field. She nodded her head.

"I fucked ya," Daryl said in a voice so low that only Heather could tell the words from each other, "'cause you was fuckin' easy. That's why. I don't care about ya. Ha! D' ya really think that? Stupid bitch…" And then he walked away, leaving Heather to stare down at her feet.

The stone in her stomach and the constriction in her throat exploded as his words sunk in. She wrapped her arms around herself and she felt like the world had stopped around her. All sounds and smells were gone; there was just her, standing there, left alone by the jerk that had taken her virginity.

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move. She just stood there, wishing that she'd never laid her eyes upon the prick that was Daryl Dixon.

Anger started to rush through her veins and the world seemed to start to blur before her eyes. Why had she been this stupid? Was she ever going to listen to the people around her, her actual friends that only just wanted what was best for her?

No, no, she just had to see for herself, didn't she? Burn her fingers on the hot stove, even though everyone had told her that it was gonna melt away her skin. And now she felt the consequences; how her heart achingly throbbed in her chest and how tears were starting to form in the corners of her eyes.

She had to get out of there, away from everyone.

So she started running. She needed to get a hold of herself, pick up the pieces of her heart that Daryl Dixon apparently had spread out across the whole town.

_Daryl fucking Dixon._

_The jerk of a lifetime._


	4. Truth or Dare

**Hey guys!**

**So here's part four of my little Daryl-Heather-thing. I really like this chapter... I hope you do too! And here goes my shoutouts:**  
**A big hug and lots of kisses to_ DarylDixonsWife, Dixon8, HipsterCoyote, Raven of the Moon and Tranquility's Chaos_ for the favs! Fuck you're cool! 3 **  
**And a speciel 'thank-you-so-f'ing-much' to _Tranquility's Chaos_ for also following! **  
**As for the reviewers; _Tranquility's Chaos_ (you're spoiling me, aren't you?), _Dixon8_ and _Maddy-MarieXO, _it's really nice to hear your thoughts on this! You're awesome! **

**And to all the rest of you readers, please let me know what you think and thank you so much for reading this! **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

**Truth or Dare**

She hadn't seen Daryl Dixon in thirty four days.

And she hated herself for knowing exactly that. Wasn't she supposed to forget stupid things like that? Isn't a human being supposed to move on from the bad things that happen to you; like, the whole 'time heals every wound' and all that crap?

But no… Heather could still remember it all too well; the day back at the carnival, the pained look that had been in Daryl's eyes when he looked down at her before turning around to leave the group of friends, how his voice had sounded when he'd told her that he didn't care for nobody except himself and how her heart had ached when he'd called her a stupid bitch and then stalked off.

_Maybe I haven't waited long enough,_ Heather thought to herself as she threw the last couple of things into her bag and swung it over her shoulder, _maybe if I just wait a little longer, my nightmares will finally come to an end._

She'd had nightmares about him almost every night since she'd seen that sickening dark bruise over his eye at the carnival; nightmares where she would run and run and run inside a thick forest without being able to see anything, and she would stumble into Daryl, a strange and older version of him, and he would always be shirtless, revealing what seemed to be millions of scars covering his muscly back and chest. He would point his weapon at her, she could never remember what kind of weapon that was, but she was always able to remember how scared she'd been as he pointed that deadly black thing at her, his eyes glaring at her with hatred and loneliness on his features. And she would plead him to take her with him, to save her from whatever she was running from. But he would always give her the same line, his voice dark, deep and unfamiliar; "I don't play well with people…"And then he would leave her there, leave her to be on her own again, to run from whatever was hunting her down.

Heather shook her head as a shiver ran down her spine. This wasn't going to be a day where she would think about those things; she was already late and didn't need any more of those kinds of upsetting distractions. She was gonna put on her happy face, meet her friends down by the library and then they would all take off to Matt's parents' cottage down near Eufaula, at the border between Georgia and Alabama. And they were gonna have the greatest weekend ever; the cottage was situated just by the lake, so there would be a lot of swimming and fishing, cooking over an open fire and really just friends getting together to have a nice time.

Heather waved enthusiastically at her friends when she slammed the car door shut after having told her dad goodbye. She pulled up her bag, settling its heavy weight more comfortably before she crossed the road to greet her friends that all stood by the grand van they were gonna drive in.

"Howdy y'all!" she waved out in a thick Georgian accent over Cristina's shoulder, earning grinning faces from all of them.

"Hi Heat!" they called at her, earning her cheeks to blush pink; the obvious reason for her new nickname. That together with her pale Seattle skin's embarrassingly bad way of dealing with the sun; if she didn't wear sunscreen at all times, her skin would immediately burn red and she would look like a lobster ready for cooking in no time.

"So, we're all set, right? Let's go!" Heather smiled at them when she'd thrown her bag into the already filled trunk of the big blue van. Miles shook his head at her while looking down on the map of Georgia that was spread out over the hood of the car. "No, we still need Dixon. He oughta be here any minute now. Said sum'thin' 'bout fixin' up his old man's truck."

Heather's mouth fell open. They'd never mentioned to her that Daryl was gonna come? Not even Jess or Cris.

She shot her eyes over at them and watched how both girls pretended to be deeply concerned with something across the street. She rolled her shoulders a little as the sound of passing cars whistled behind her.

She couldn't really be mad at them for not telling her; she knew they'd both looked forward to this trip for ages. And to be honest, if Heather had known that Daryl Dixon was gonna go too, she wouldn't have told them yes. Not after all the things that had happened between them. But there was no turning back now; she was all packed and ready to go on a three days trip off to a suddenly way too small cottage with her closest friends and… him.

She sighed out heavily. Even the trip there in the van seemed impossible for her to go through at this point, because she knew how Daryl was gonna be like; quiet, grumpy and not even earning her a single glare. And Heather was right, except for the last part.

When they'd gotten into the car and Daryl had taken the front seat in the passenger's side while Heather had placed herself all the way down in the back together with Cris and Jess, she'd felt his burning hot stare on her; his blue intense eyes boring into hers every time she would look up to the rearview mirror. He didn't show any emotion on his face as he sat there staring at her, well if some, it would probably be hatred but Heather couldn't really be sure of that since Daryl kinda always looked mad.

Jess and Cristina had acted like the two nut-jobs they were, punching her shoulder and giggling out loudly when 'their song' was being played in the stereo and she'd really tried to just go with it, sing out and act as crazy as them, but the constant glares of Daryl had her feeling so annoyingly self-conscious. He didn't twitch his eyes, not even the slightest, when she would tilt her head a bit to the side in a questioning gaze; he just kept his eyes locked with hers.

And it made her uncomfortable. Because she'd thought that he didn't want anything to do with her, not after what he'd told her that day at the carnival. She'd thought that he would pay her no attention and just… leave her alone. But as Heather sat there and felt his eyes glaring at her over the chatting heads of Jackson, Matt and Zach, she felt like he was paying her more attention than he'd ever done since she met him. And she should have felt bad about it; she should have become angry at him for causing her emotions to dive and fly high as crazily as they now did. Because she did have feelings for him in some strange way; this uncontrollable attraction to him that she didn't want to admit to herself she possessed. So instead of feeling anger, Heather felt as if a bunch of confused butterflies had been released down inside her belly, trying eagerly to escape from her tensed body.

Finally, after three hours of pure torture in a van filled with sweaty hyped out teens and loud music, they arrived at the beautiful site where they were to stay for the rest of the weekend. The cottage was the coziest little lake house Heather had ever seen; it was covered in dark brown planks and surrounded by green thriving bushes that were all blossoming heavily with colorful flowers and berries. From the cottage, it was only a good ten feet before you would reach the water where a long wooden bridge that looked like it could use some reinforcement hovered over the blank dark surface.

"The girls got the master bedroom!" Jess shrieked out as she ran up the stairs to claim the biggest of the three rooms the cottage held. Heather laughed out as she saw both Miles and Matt raise their middle finger towards the window where Cris was already laughing down at them.

When Heather too made it to their room, she immediately felt the guilty stares of both Cristina and Jessica on her, and she sat down on the bed where they were both cuddled up, their clothes already spread out over it.

They didn't say anything, and the loud noise of whispering crickets pounded through the warm, sun filled room as they all sat there in silence. "I'm not mad," Heather finally breathed.

She suddenly felt four arms wrapping around her and a kiss from each of her two friends were being placed on her cheeks. "We're so sorry, honey," Jess chirped in one ear, Cristina's voice sounding in the other: "Yea, we just knew that if we told ya, ya wasn't gon' come with us."

Heather barked out a laugh. She knew they were right. And she'd probably done the same if it had been one of them having some unnamed and peculiar thing going on with Daryl.

She tilted her head a bit to the side. Just imagining one of them being with him just seemed so off. Actually, as she came to think of it, Daryl with anyone, even herself, seemed really strange. A small smile crept up on her lips.

"'D ya see how he eyed ya?" Cris asked as she'd gotten up to unpack the rest of her belongings. Jess giggled. "Yea, he just couldn't keep his eyeballs off ya, could he?"

Heather smiled but waved a hand at them both, picking up her toiletries and heading out to the bathroom, whispering a gentle_ 'shut the fuck up'_ to both of them. Jess continued in her girly voice from the bedroom, earning Cris to send her a cautious glare: "Ya sure he said he don't care 'bout'cha?"

Heather placed her small leather toiletry bag on a shelf just below the bathroom mirror before she grabbed the edges of the cold porcelain sink and let her head drop down between her shoulders. Her head was spinning a little; whether it was from the heat outside, the long drive or something else, she didn't know. She bowed down and turned on the cold water. The refreshing feeling of coolness dripping down her face soon had her head cleared a bit and as she turned the water off, she heard rapid whispers from inside the other room, her two friends clearly not agreeing on something.

Heather sighed out and slowly made her way back to the bedroom, her every step sounding loudly over the wooden floor. She leaned her shoulder up against the door frame and smiled down at Cris and Jess that still hadn't noticed she wasn't in the bathroom anymore. She cleared her throat loudly and raised an eyebrow at them.

Their whispering immediately stopped and they both had the same guilty looks in their eyes from before, almost making them look like sisters. Heather chuckled. "To answer your question Jess; yes, I am so very positive that Daryl wants nothing, and I do really mean nothing, to do with me. He made that very clear when he called me a bitch. Furthermore, I would like to ask you both, please do not whisper about me when I'm able to hear every word you guys say. Seriously girls, I'm alright. I mean, yeah, I got hurt but… I'm fine, really. He's not going to destroy this weekend for me; not when I have you two by my side to guide me to bed when I'm shitfaced drunk. Which I will be… In a few hours…"

That caused all three of them to laugh out loud. And Heather had smiled warmheartedly at her two best friends when they'd quickly started talking about what they were gonna wear that evening. She knew that they didn't just let it slide; they didn't believe her little presentation on how she was feeling good and doing fine at all. But they also knew that Heather needed to think about something else and not dwell on the fact that she'd been dumped by Daryl for her to be able to enjoy this trip. So they didn't mention it again at all as the day slowly crept towards its end; they didn't say a word when Daryl, and that had really made Heather jump in her seat, had complimented the sandwiches that she'd made for everyone that morning when they all sat around the dinner table. Nor had they even spared her a single glance when he was the one telling the girls to go outside and have something to drink while the boys did the dishes. Even Heather couldn't help but to glare after him as he trotted off to the kitchen with plates in his hands. What was going on with that boy?!

After dinner they all settled around the fire that Miles had lit close to the lake. The scene was beautiful; the sun was setting out over the quiet water and a lovely cool breeze mingled with the sweet smell of grass waved gently over them. Soon all of their faces were only lit by the pale orange coziness that was the light of the fire and as Heather took a small sip from her a little too strong whiskey and coke, it reminded her of the first time she'd met the boys.

At that time, she'd felt nervous around them because of her lack of experience hanging out with boys. Back in Seattle she wasn't really the type that hung out with other boys than her cousin Jake. And he was kind of a freak. But now she was actually feeling pretty comfortable; she didn't feel herself flinch back if someone pointed out something about her they thought funny, because she knew they didn't think bad of her. She'd also noticed that she'd changed herself; she was better at speaking her mind now. She didn't know why but she knew it had something to do with her moving to Georgia. She just felt more like home now.

"Truth or dare!" Jess shouted over the fire in a wide grin.

All of the boys groaned and Heather laughed out. "What are ya, like five?" Jackson scowled from across the fire.

"Shut up, Jack-ass," Cris giggled into her beer bottle, "We're doin' it with teen-rules."

Heather gulped down. She didn't think she was gonna like whatever that meant. "Teen rules?" Zach sounded next to Heather, a small smirk forming on his lips.

She nodded: "Yea, like, ya have to answer whatever question ya get or do whatever ya'r told."

_Oh no…_

"Huh," Jackson huffed with raised eyebrows, "So just anythin'? Oughta be interestin'…"

Heather didn't like the tone to his voice nor the quick glaze that traveled over his dark brown eyes and she scratched her right arm nervously. A disgusted snort sounded from Daryl, and Heather saw him roll his eyes dramatically before scornfully gnarling: "Yea, well aint like they gon' suck ya dick if that's what'cha thinkin', boy."

Heather's eyes widened at the straightforwardness of Daryl's words and she almost choked on her drink, earning her a good couple of pats on her back from Zach as she coughed out for air. Both the girls, Zach, Miles and Matt rumbled with laughter as Daryl downed the rest of his beer with a shrug of his shoulders. Jackson just waved a hand at him, but you could easily see his cheeks blushing.

"Um, ha, yea, no uh… perversity needed," Cris said, her voice still shaking a bit from laughing, "Who wanna start?"

They all glared at each other.

"I will," Heather cringed out. "Thanks, honey," Cris sighed in relief and winked at her. Heather put on the most mischievous face she could manage while rubbing her palms against each other, glaring around over the teens with curling lips. Zach almost looked scared.

"Hm…" she dragged as her eyes rested on him, "You look like someone who could use a round. Zach, truth or dare?"

His big green eyes widened at her, his black eyebrows rising almost all the way up to his hairline. "Um…" he gulped, "'M gonna go with the boring one: Truth."

Both Cris and Jess groaned girlishly while Heather put a finger to her lips, thinking. She didn't know much about this guy so she just slung something out there: "You ever made your momma cry?"

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Daryl smiling, actually and truthfully smiling, into his can of beer.

"Uh, that's a good one, good thinkin' Heat!" Jess said while jumping a little in her seat, making her long curls bump up and down over her shoulders. Zach tucked at the hem in the neck of his shirt.

"I gotta tell the story b'hind it, don't I?"

The whole group nodded. And when he was done telling them about the time where he'd made his mom cry because he'd accidently forgotten about a pen in one of the pockets of his jeans that she'd washed which earned her favorite dress to be ruined, they all laughed. Then Zach had asked Jess; truth or dare. And because she'd been foolish enough to choose dare, she had to down a beer while standing on her arms with her head upside down.

And so the game continued; the following questions and dares even more crazy than the last. Heather didn't know for how long they were playing; all she knew was that her head was suddenly starting to feel lighter and her friends funnier. Her legs were buzzing when she heard Miles ask her: "Heat, truth or fucking dare!"

It took her some time before she adjusted her eyes to lay on him and she sluggishly ringed out: "Dare, bitch!"

Miles looked around him, obviously trying to figure out what was possible for him to make her do, and when his eyes had rested on the wooden bridge just behind them long enough, a smirk crept up his lips. "I dare you to jump in."

Heather felt all eyes on her as she covered her face in her hands. That was probably the most hardcore dare that had been handed out tonight, maybe aside from Daryl having to climb up a tall tree.

"Now hang on, y'all. A bit dangerous, huh?" Cris said in a serious voice while sending Miles a hard stare.

Heather heard Daryl grunt. She shook her head, saying: "Nah, it's good. Water's not that deep. Plus, I'm a really good swimmer. Now, all I need to know is this; do I have to do it with or without my clothes?"

She smirked at Miles and watched how his eyes widened and his lower lip twitched. "Uh," he stammered nervously and his eyes traveled around to the rest of the group as if asking them what he was supposed to say.

Heather smiled as she got up; Miles was such a kind guy, always caring so much about the wellbeing of everyone around him. Heather threw off her blanket dramatically, earning a couple of chuckles from the girls, before she started half-running down to the bridge.

She felt adrenaline and alcohol pump through her veins and she giggled when she reached the end of the bridge and turned around to look at the others. "You see me?" she yelled, kicking off her sandals.

"Nah, you're good!" Cris assured her, only her face lit by the slowly burning fire. Heather's eyes fell upon Daryl that was sitting to the right of the fireplace. He wasn't looking at her.

She shrugged her shoulders before shoving down her jeans and panties and then pulled off her shirt. She hurriedly clasped off her bra too and felt her cheeks flush with heat at the bare thought of being naked just a few feet away from the others. So without hesitation, and probably because of all the alcohol that buzzed lively through her brain, she jumped in the still water of the lake. And damn, did it feel good.

The water was warm and snuggled around Heather's body like a silk blanket as she kicked her legs to reach the surface.

"Honey! You good?" were the first words she heard as she ran a hand over her face to wipe off the water.

"I'm amazing. This feels so good!" she grinned up at the two girls that were watching her with cautious eyes. "Jump in!" Heather yelled before she dived under again, enjoying the soft feeling of the water tucking at her eyes.

It didn't take her long to convince the girls that it wasn't scary at all and that there had only been a few fish touching her bare shins, and before she knew it, all of the boys had joined them too, even Daryl. And Heather somehow managed to get Jackson, Miles, Zach and Matt to chase after Cris and Jess.

She'd smiled as she watched the girls cry out dramatically, fighting really hard to not get caught, and she enjoyed just lying in the water; relaxing and relishing the magic it worked on her stage of drunkenness. She'd really had a lot.

"Ya copin'?" Daryl's drunken rough voice sounded behind her. She turned around to face him, keeping the water just under her chin, and nodded at him with a smile on her lips. "Just drunk, that's all. You?"

He had his eyes on the others that still were splashing around farther out. The water only reached up just below his nipples and Heather felt heat rush to her face as she looked at his lean chest. She quickly looked away.

"Yea, me too," he said before his eyes finally rested on her, "Promised m'self I wouldn't, though."

Heather let her glare fall back on him. "Why?"

He shrugged his shoulders and she watched as his collarbones heaved beautifully up and down and the all too familiar trembling shiver ran down her spine.

"Dunno. Wanted to talk to ya. When we're not all drunk n' naked and shit."

Heather gulped down and let her eyes fall down to the dark water just below her chin. She hadn't even thought about the fact that he was actually naked too. Just there under the water.

She rolled her eyes at herself before she spoke: "Well. What if we start with taking our clothes back on and then we'll see if we can sober ourselves up with a cup of coffee?"

She saw a small smirk form on his lips. "Can see ya if ya pull ya ass up this water now," he mumbled.

She swam a few feet before reaching her hand up to grab the small wooden bridge. "I guess you better close your eyes then, Dixon. I'll be in the kitchen."

As Heather got up, got dressed and walked back to the cottage to make them some coffee, her mind was filled with questions, scenarios and presumptions of what it might be Daryl wanted to tell her. She was trying to prepare herself for what was coming; because she knew she shouldn't get her hopes up. Daryl wasn't someone you could figure out exactly, and the words he'd used against her, those things that he'd called her, still rang loudly in her ears as she leaned her back up against the kitchen counter and bit down on the nail of her thumb.

Her breath almost got caught in her throat when she heard him enter the cottage and she nervously pulled out two mugs out from the cabinet that hung above the sink. She heard his footsteps stop for a moment just on the other side of the wall, right before he would enter the kitchen. And when he strolled across the kitchen floor and sat down by the table, Heather was already pouring the black hot liquid into their mugs. She sat down by the table too, and watched as he nodded at her when she served him the coffee.

"You got a haircut," she mumbled randomly into her mug, eyeing his face intently. He also looked thinner than he used to, his cheekbones standing out more heavily than she remembered them too and his collarbones more visible.

He did a little throw with his head, making a few water drops land on the table before he laid his eyes on her again. "I like it," Heather continued rambling on as silence clung awkwardly to the air between them.

His eyes narrowed at her. "Why'd ya do that?" he asked her in a slurry and raspy voice, "why'd ya pretend nothin' happened 'tween us?"

Her eyes rested on his blue ones for a few seconds before she shrugged her shoulders and took a small sip from her coffee. "For the same reason as you, I guess."

Daryl snarled and turned his gaze down to his coffee mug, obviously not liking her answer.

_Touché, dear._

Heather smiled weakly at him. She knew he probably had a million things inside of him just waiting to come out, things he wanted to say and do, not just to her but to everyone here, but his pride or whatever thing it was inside of him that held him back, prevented him from doing so.

Heather felt like taking his hand and just tell him to scream at the world; scream at everyone around him for all the things he'd wanted to say to them when they'd acted like douches. Scream at his brother, his dad, for not treating him like a proper family should, scream at the folks in town that judged him just because of his last name and scream at her for… whatever reason he had.

"That day…" Daryl's voice rasped, surprising Heather in her little ramble of thoughts, "I wasn't bein' nice to ya. I never was…"

She could see his face twitch and his hold on the coffee mug tighten. Her eyes fell to the white wooden table before her. He always seemed to blame himself for everything bad that happened around him, didn't he?

He ran his hands over his face before sliding his thumb across his lower lip; biting at the skin there like he always did when there was something he didn't know how to say. Heather just wished for him to say it, just as it were inside his head but she kept her lips shut. He sighed.

"Merle told me I needed to apologize to ya."

Heather grunted in surprise. _Merle?_ Merle Dixon; the guy that everyone seemed to think was the biggest jackass on earth had actually told him that he needed to apologize. _What the freaking fuck._

"So…" he breathed raggedly with his eyes flickering over to the window behind her that held view down to the lake, "m' sorry."

Heather's heart pounded achingly in her chest, almost beating so hard that it hurt. She would never have imagined this; Daryl Dixon right there in front of her, apologizing for his behavior. Panic ran along her veins as Daryl suddenly got up from his chair.

He couldn't leave now? Not when there were so many things she wanted to say to him, to let him know.

Her words came out rushed: "Daryl please, I just want to get to know you."

She'd gotten up too now, and she stared down at her bare feet when she felt him stop by the kitchen door.

Suddenly he was in her face, his hands grabbing her by the shoulders and jerking her gently so she would look at him. His eyes were so fucking blue and beautiful she could have thought it was contacts.

"Why?" he growled at her low in his chest, "Why th'fuck d'ya wanna know me?!"

Curiosity and urgency traveled over his burning eyes as he stared down at her, his grip tightening a bit, his fingers digging into her skin. She never realized she'd placed her hands at his chest before she let her eyes drop from his. Her fingertips burned.

"I…" she mumbled, unable to finish her sentence. Why did she wanna know him? What was it about him that made her so fucking interested in him; that made her forgive all the things he'd done to her?

Her heart still pounded hard in her chest, almost hammering through her ribcage. She felt his grip on her shoulders loosen; his hands left her body momentarily before winding their way around her shoulders, resting on her back and pulling her body softly against his. Her head turned to rest in the curve of his neck, her lips just by his collarbone. He was hugging her?

A comfortable warmth spread down her body as she too let her arms snuck around his torso and pressed him slightly closer. "Please don't hurt me again," Heather heard herself whisper into his skin. He had such a wonderful scent; musky with a light smell of cigarette smoke. He grunted above her.

"Can't promise ya nothin'."

Heather smiled. The words _'but I will try'_ almost sounded through the small room, though, never leaving his lips.

They stood there for a rather long time; Heather was surprised he didn't loosen his grip around her. But when they both heard laughter from outside down by the bonfire, they both backed away from each other. Heather felt him stare at her as her eyes roamed over to the colorful magnets that hung to the refrigerator next to her.

"The others ar' comin'," Daryl rasped in a breath, forcing a shiver to travel down her spine, "m' off to bed. G'night."

She wanted everything else than for him to leave her there and she quickly ran out to the hall. He was on his way outside. "Wait. You're not sleeping in the house?"

Daryl turned his head around to look at her. "Nah, brought my tent. I'm not sleepin' on no couch."

And with those words he stalked off towards where the car was parked, Heather just being able to see the dark shadow of a small two-person tent already standing next to the blue van. She leaned herself against the doorframe and bit down on her lower lip, hiding the smile that was starting to spread on her face.

She hadn't pictured that happening when she's packed her bags this morning at all.

"What y'all smiling at, babe?" the girly voice of Jessica sounded as the others walked up the stairs that led up to the house.

Heather shook her head and backed away from the door and into the house again, her heart warm and her head buzzing.

"S' nothing," she mumbled as she felt Cris' eyes on her blushing cheeks, "I'm going to bed. Goodnight guys, coffee's on the table if you like."

And with those words she made her way up the stairs and into the bedroom. With her toothbrush in her mouth, she walked over to look out the window and down to the blue van. There was light in Daryl's tent and Heather saw his shadow moving around in there.

She felt butterflies flap around inside her belly again as she thought back to the talk they'd just had.

He did care about her. Or if anything, he didn't hate her like she'd thought he did.

That night she didn't have any nightmares.


	5. Come Apart

**Hello everybody! (that simply has to be read with the voice of that weird doctor-dude from the Simpsons)**

**Here is the 5. part of my little Daryl story; I really hope you all will be satisfied with the outcome!**  
**However, I have some things I want to set straight before you slaughter me completely (hopefully, you won't), so here goes:**  
**- The opinions pronounced by the characters in this story is not meant to hurt anyone. I am a very openminded person and I tolerate everyone no matter where they're from.**  
**- I know Daryl doesn't act like a racist on TWD but based on several interviews where Reedus says something close to "he's ashamed of being racist, ashamed of taking drugs, etc", I got the feeling that he once was. And, well, this story takes place in 'once', ha ;-)**  
**- Also I have to warn you a bit on the "warning: sexual content" thing; this is sexual content at its finest. Not saying I'm any good at writing sex scenes, there's just a lot of it.**

**I really appreciate all of the love I'm getting from all of you! Without you, this story would still just be a oneshot of the two first chapters so; BIG HUGS! And here goes my shoutouts: **  
**A major "thank you so much, you are so awesome that it hurts" to everyone that reviewed; _Maddy-MarieXO_ and _Alnihan_ (you review so much, thank you!) and to _DarylDixonsWife_ (I like your way of thinking; "pretty please with a shirtless Daryl on top", ha that really cracked me up :-D). Hugs and kisses for _snowflake2410_ and _aratb_ (you are truly amazing) and last but not least for _vexingvixen7_; you my girl (you are a girl, right?) are simply the best ever. You've been so supportive not only with this but also with my NR fan fic "Yes", so thank you so much!**  
**And a loooot of hugs for all of you followers out there: _RecalcitrantRach_ and _Beshineshi_; I think I might be in love with you guys... Ha :-D**  
**And lastly, a big shoutout for everyone who favorited this: _maryisdatFIYAH_, _Sas02_ and _srrebel92116_, you are the best ever!**

**It means so much to me. It is all so very appreciated! Oh, and OH MY GOD?! There I was last night, trying to change the format of this damn chapter, but the site wouldn't let me. And I thought to myself "What the h, they won't read it until tomorrow anyway", but wooooow... I changed it, okay? (scared voice) I'm sorry! **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

**Come apart**

"Squeal!"

And then a way too feminine sound left the lips of Zach as Heather, Cris and Jess all pressed the excessive cool lake water out of their soaking wet hair to splatter down on Zach's bare back.

"Fuck you!" Zach yelled out under a big pair of sunglasses as he rolled over on the now wet towel that laid spread out beneath him. "I know ya wanna!" Cris chuckled as the girls were lying down on their own towels over the dry grass that surrounded the little lake house.

It was really a hot day and the teens had decided to just relax by the lake instead of going into the nearest town as they'd planned on doing. Miles, Daryl and Matt were currently out fishing, a little out on the still surface of the big lake and it looked to Heather like they were gonna have lots of fish to cook for dinner.

_This is the life,_ Heather thought to herself as she sipped on the ice cold lemonade Jackson just made for them and rested her eyes on the small white boat that were roaming over the still lake. She could barely make out the silhouette of Daryl showing Miles something with his fishing rod and a smile curled up on her lips as she thought back to this morning.

After Heather had gotten dressed after her morning shower and sat down by the table where Jess and Cris had served eggs and bacon for breakfast, she'd happily smiled at the group while waving out a cheerful _'good morning'._ "'Morning, honey," Cris had chuckled and while winking, she'd said: "What's gotten y'self in such a fine mood today?" And Heather's eyes had quickly roamed over to Daryl that had smirked heavily into his morning coffee mug before she'd shrugged her shoulders and mumbled out something about just having slept well.

She didn't really know exactly what she and Daryl had talked about last night; she'd been drunk and couldn't remember all the details, but she knew that they'd finally established to themselves that there actually was something between them. Not that they'd said it with words. But she remembered how she'd felt him say so much when he'd hugged her there in the kitchen. And that was something you'd just have to get used to with Daryl; he wasn't much of a talker.

Heather giggled to herself as she rolled over to lie on her back. That was the exact words he'd told her back at that party Miles had thrown for what seemed to be ages ago. "Not much of a talker, are we?" he'd said with his eyebrows popped at her.

_No sir,_ Heather thought to herself as she waved off a fly that had placed itself on her stomach and took another cool sip from her lemonade. She could see that the boat was on its way back to the shore and she couldn't help but to feel a slight increase in her heart beat and a small pink blush flush over her cheeks.

"Ya know," Jess' voice sounded silently into Heather's ear, "If ya keep givin' Dixon them looks, honey, everyone here will know ya had sex with'im last night."

Heather's eyes widened at her friend. A smirk was plastered widely over Jess' rosy lips and her eyes gleamed. "Did not!" Heather whispered out quietly in rushed words.

She heard a giggle come from over where Cris was lying.

"I didn't, seriously!" she tried again.

Jess rolled her eyes at her. "Yea, sure. Then what'cha do inside the house when we was out soppin'? Ya both seemed so mysterious when we came back to the house."

Heather bit down on the nail of her index finger. "We just talked. Conversation, you know, don't know if you girls ever heard of that?"

The girls chuckled. "Yea?" Cris raised at her with narrowed eyes, "what'cha talk about?"

"Just stuff," Heather waved at her, earning complaining stares from both girls. She sighed. "He apologized. Told me Merle had him realize that what he'd done was kinda wrong."

A short moment of silence had Heather feeling nervous. "And ya forgave him?" Cris asked.

Another moment of silence passed. "Well, yeah? He seemed truly sorry for what he'd done." She saw Jess bite down on her lower lip and Cris raise her eyebrows.

"What?"

Cris shook her head slowly. "Heat, I know Dixon's your prince charmin' of rednecks but… ya gotta think twice with him. Did it occur to ya that he might just have told ya tha' 'cause he… ya know." Heather tilted her head at her friend, not understanding where she was going with that sentence. "Well, 'cause he just wanna get in your pants again," Jess chirped in a small whisper.

Heather sat up to rest on her elbows and looked down on her thighs. A faint reddish tone was already starting to show even though she'd applied a lot of sunscreen this morning. "It's not like that," Heather shook her head at her friends, "He's not like that."

They all shared a moment of just glaring at each other. Heather knew what they were thinking: 'don't get yourself hurt, be careful around him, do you even know if that's what he's like, yada yada yada…' But she knew; Daryl wasn't the kinda guy who would lie about his feelings, even talk about them if he didn't really feel the need to. Was he?

"The hell y'all lying around whisperin' for?" the raspy voice of the guy that was just buzzing around inside Heather's mind sounded over them, and she felt a shadow run over her head. She reached an arm up to lay cover over her eyes and glared up at the dark shadow of Daryl that hovered over her, the sun from behind him making it impossible for her to tell the expression on his face.

"Ah, Dixon, ya know; makeup, tampons and boys. Typical girl's stuff," Cris said, earning both the two other girls to chuckle.

He muttered something that was so heavily accented that Heather couldn't understand it and stalked off with a large string of fish in his hands.

A high pitched yelp suddenly sounded from Jess and soon she'd rolled all the way over to grab onto Heather's arm. Heather grinned as she saw her surprised expression. "What are yo…" Ah!

A strong couple of hands grabbed her by the ankles and twisted her body around to lie on her stomach. What the fuck?

She heard the chuckles from Jackson and Matt behind her.

_Oh, hell no!_

"Don't!" she laughed out as Cris now also was shrieking and kicking her legs up in the air. The boys were coming for revenge for all the times the girls had splashed water on them this morning.

Suddenly Heather felt the ground disappear under her body and she groaned out in a wide grin as she felt her stomach being pressed down on a hard shoulder. "Put me fucking down!" she yelled loudly but couldn't help to chuckle as she saw Jess on top of Matt, helplessly banging her small tightened fists into Matt's chest.

"Revenge!" Jackson grinned beneath her, forcing the bass of his voice to travel over her body. She felt a small twitch in her body as she realized he was the one carrying her; she didn't like the way his hands were like plastered onto her thighs as he started walking towards the wooden bridge.

The wooden bridge?!

_Fuck!_

"Ya aint doin' this, fuckers!" Cris sounded from somewhere behind Heather and an uncomfortable shiver ran down her spine as she felt something around her neck loosen. That wasn't… was it?

She looked down in horror to find that her nightmare really was true; her bikini top wasn't tied around her neck anymore. "Shit! Jackson, put me fucking down now!" she gasped at him while grabbing her breasts, covering what she could. Did he have to walk so fucking clumsily?

"Na-ah," he barked at her while grabbing tighter around her thighs.

Panic ran through her veins; if he dropped her in the water now, she wouldn't be able to hold onto her top anymore… She kicked her legs angrily. "No, I'm serious, asshole! This isn't some game, put me down now!"

But as always, Jackson just carried on like he was deafer than an old lady in her ninety's; they were already halfway out on the bridge. This was going to be the humiliation of a lifetime…

Suddenly Jackson's body was twitched to the side and she soon heard the seething gnarl of Daryl in her ear: "What ar'ya, fuckin' deaf? When she tells ya to put her down ya put her the fuck down, bitch!"

Heather could almost hear the smile on Jackson's lips falter.

"Shut up, Dixon. We're just havin' fun."

Daryl's eyes traveled up to hers and she knew what he was seeing; Heather on top of Jackson, doing everything she could to get down, fighting to hold on to her bikini top while desperation gleamed from her eyes. She saw the rage ignite in his blue piercing eyes.

"Aint lookin' fun to me!" he growled.

His shoulders were already tensed. Jackson really had to put her down now, or else something bad was gonna happen.

"Please, just put me down," she whispered silently to him while adrenaline started to pump through her veins. She didn't know if it was too late already.

She almost fell in by herself as she suddenly felt her feet hit the wooden planks and she sighed out in relief as an arm took hold of her and had her stumbling into a hard chest instead. The musky smell of sweat and cigarettes had her breathing in heavily before looking up at his face. Daryl's jaw was clenched and his eyes were boring into Jackson's.

"There!" Jackson's nasal voice cringed, "Ya done? Or ya wanna come at me?"

Daryl's arm roughly pressed her chest into his and she yelped out as she felt the low bass of his raspy voice travel over her skin: "Ya aint touchin' her again, ya hear? If I see ya as much as lay your filthy brown nigga-eyes on her again? I'll kick ya' fuckin' teeth in!"

Heather's eyes widened at the harshness of Daryl's words. "Daryl…" she whispered, trying to sooth the heated boy before her. She heard gasps from behind him; probably Jess.

Daryl roughly yanked her to the side before ripping off his sweaty t-shirt, handing it over to her. "Here," he growled at her before he turned his gaze back to Jackson.

Heather stared blankly at him, how he literally beamed with heat and rage. Another couple of gasps were heard behind them and Heather looked to the left to see Zach, Miles, Matt, Cris and Jess stand in awe, paralyzed just like she was. She slowly pressed the dark t-shirt to her chest, covering her loose bikini top with it.

"Oh yea?" Jackson's voice seethed, "What's she to ya, Dixon? Ya actin' like she's yours. Ah, but ya forgettin' somethin', aint ya?"

There was a moment of silence where all you could hear was the small lapping sounds of the water hitting the shore and crickets singing in the grass.

"She wants no redneck like y'self to come play hero for 'er. Go back to fuckin' trailer-trash land, back to where ya came from!"

The sound of air being violently ripped out of a chest was all you heard before they hit the water. And then torturous long minutes where the sounds of the splashing of water, skin hitting skin and gasps of pain were screaming at the group of teens on the bridge. Heather was petrified.

Miles and Matt soon jumped into the water to try and separate the two hotheads that were throwing themselves at each other; knuckles, fists, elbows and heads flying around in a twirl of frenzy. It took Miles and Matt a bit longer than it should have to separate them, but when they finally did, Daryl was the first one to heave himself back up on the bridge before storming off in the direction of his tent.

Heather didn't dare look at him; afraid that if she did, he might be pissed off again. Or, more than he already was, that is.

"Fuckin' psycho," Jackson grumbled as he too made it back to the bridge, a black eye already blooming over his right eye. Heather felt his eyes rest on her for a couple of seconds before he shook his head and trotted off back to the house. And she still stood there, like glued to the wood under her feet, hugging herself tightly. What the fuck had just happened?!

She felt anger boil through her veins, but she didn't know who held responsibility for it.

Was it Daryl? For being such a prick, swearing off racists remarks at Jackson for no reason, for not being able to control his temper and just started a fight with Jackson, just because he carried her out to the bridge?

Or was it anger towards Jackson? For not listening to her when she told him to put her down, waving her off because he wanted to get his revenge, for touching her a little too much on their way?

She shook her head. She couldn't clear her head enough for her to figure it out; she was just… pissed. And then her feet started to tramp down the bridge. She nearly bumped her shoulder into Cris as she made her way past the others, her eyes only focusing on one single thing; Daryl's tent.

"Ey, uh, babe? Ya sure it's a good id…" But Heather threw out her arm at Cris, too pissed off to actually speak, and stopped her friend's careful presumption.

Heather didn't care whether Daryl was too much of a hothead for her to talk to him now, all she knew was that she needed to.

Sne needed to ask him; what the flying fuck is wrong with you?!

And she did. But her words hung thick in the moist air of the tent as she stared at him, his eyes ever escaping hers, and he left them to hang there. Just the tiny sound of a gnarl ripped through his chest when she put her hand on his arm to have him meet her gaze.

He was still boiling with heat; it beamed off of his bare chest as he sat there on his sleeping bag, head leaning away from her on his forearm that rested on his bended knees. She'd put on his shirt on her way over to him and she stared down at it. It was way too big for her and you could still tell the small darker spots of his sweat that was slowly vaporizing into the air.

"Talk to me," she stated flatly.

She was gonna sit there and wait until he answered her, until he talked to her; minutes, hours, days; she didn't care. She planted her ass firmly next to him.

i_hatever time you need, Dixon._

"He's a fuckin' prick!" Daryl seethed through his teeth, "A lowlife, motherless bastard. I oughta kill his ass."

Daryl's fists clenched. Heather gulped down and looked at her hands.

"Filthy, dirty asshole. Fuckin'…"

She heard his breath come out staggered.

"I' seen the way he looks at'cha. Ya noticed? Like ya some thing, just for him to take. And when he touched ya like that today, I was just… Fuck, he needs his eyeballs ripped outta his goddamned face. Nasty son of a bitch! And ya told him, ya fuckin' yelled for him to just…"

"Are you done?!" Heather yelled out, cutting him off.

His eyes finally met with hers and a shadow of surprise traveled over them, his mouth twitching slightly. Heather breathed out heavily, her anger almost driving her over the edge.

"Daryl," she breathed with eyes closed, "I appreciate you helping me out down there. I was losing my top and you made sure I didn't. So thanks."

He grunted and nodded his head. She rolled her eyes. She wasn't done yet.

"But you can't go around hitting people. Especially not your friends, I…"

"He aint a friend of mine!" Daryl snapped.

Heather slapped his shoulder with the back of her hand and he shut his lips close once more. She continued: "You gotta control that temper you've got. And seriously, when you pulled the 'nigga'-card? I felt like punching you myself."

She saw his eyes narrow down at her but she didn't care.

"Just… this is not you, Daryl. So stop acting like an asshole and get over yourself." And with those words, she got up and left him to stare after her.

When she entered the house, she heard the quiet mumbling of Miles and Cris from the living room. She leaned her shoulder on the door frame and crossed her arms on her chest. The others raised their gazes at her and Heather saw Jess frown a small 'are you okay?' at her. Heather nodded quickly. "Where's Jackson?"

The others all looked down at their feet.

"He left, we couldn't get him to stay."

She blinked a couple of times before Miles' words sunk in. "He left?" Heather asked again.

They all nodded their heads, Matt being the one opening his mouth this time: "Yea, he called his mom. Told her to pick him up down by the gas station. Told us not to go after 'im."

A long moment of silence passed as the group of teens just stared at each other, obviously all shocked that their cozy little weekend had turned out to be something you could easily find in a bad teenage drama.

Heather felt so bad; Jackson had actually left. And Daryl was the reason for him doing so.

As the hours passed, the teens slowly managed to push the events of the afternoon out of their heads and get back to trying to have a good time. Even though it was kinda hard getting a smile back on her lips, Heather found herself actually chuckling as Jessica danced her way across the kitchen floor and over to pull something out of the refrigerator.

Jess sang loudly along as the small boom blaster raddled out an old song Heather hadn't heard in ages. When their eyes met, Jess' smile immediately stiffened a bit. Heather turned her gaze out of the window and down to the small dark green tent that peeked out from behind Miles' blue van. She sighed: "I feel bad."

She felt a gentle arm being laid around her shoulder and a quick kiss to her cheek. "Don't," Jess told her and nudged her shoulder, "S' not ya fault. Daryl's a hothead; we all know that, even Jackson. And Jackson acted kinda like an ass too. So don't take this on y'self, honey."

Heather shrugged her shoulders and looked down at the cucumber she was slicing for the salad. She still felt like she could have prevented it somehow, she just wasn't sure how. Jess hugged her from behind. "Please, be happy. For me?"

Heather barked out a breathy chuckle and turned her face to smile at Jess.

"That's ma girl!" she grinned before letting her arms drop from Heather's shoulders and danced her way over to the oven, "Fish's almost done. Ya think Daryl's gon' come in for dinner?"

"I can go over and ask him," Heather said, immediately dropping the knife down on the chopping board before her.

Jess held up her hands, her eyes big and her mouth in a tight line. "I'll go. You finish up the salad and tell the others to get their asses in here."

Surprisingly, Daryl did show up when the group had settled down around the table. Or, his body was there, though not his head. Because Daryl didn't say a word; not even a simple grunt or snort like he always muttered as comment to what people around him said. He only just nodded when Matt asked him if he was alright. But Heather tried to ignore him; let him have his space. He would talk to them whenever he felt like it.

But he didn't. When the day came to an end and the teens were gathered around the small bonfire out on the lawn by the lake just like they'd been the night before, Daryl quietly slipped in between the tree logs that surrounded the small orange flames, and sat down with a silent sigh and a beer in his hand. Heather sent a smile at him but he quickly looked away, taking a big sip from his bottle, with a frown on his face.

_There is seriously something messed up about that boy,_ Heather thought to herself with a shrug of her shoulders. Why had he come down if he just wanted to sit there, pouting and not showing anyone there any interest at all?

Heather looked down as she felt weight press down on her shoulder and saw Jess rest her head there, her eyes closed and her mouth partly open. She felt Jess sway heavily as she leaned herself against Heather's shoulder, almost making her slip down from the tree log.

"Whoa, you okay there, sweetie?" she asked her woozy friend nervously, trying to gain eye contact with her but with no luck. Heather looked up at Miles and Matt who were both eyeing her too.

"Sum'tin wrong with my fishy," Jess mumbled into Heather's arm, earning a bit of saliva to travel down her skin.

"Okay," Heather sighed and tried to get up on her feet without stirring the dead-weight Jessica that was groaning something unintelligible in a weak voice, "We gotta get you to bed."

"I'll take her," Matt said, already on his feet.

"Yea, I'll come too. 'M ass-tired," Cris yawned, "N' she's prob'ly gon' need someone holdin' her hair. Somethin' wrong with her fish, my ass."

Heather chuckled as she watched Matt and Cris struggle all the way back to the house with the almost sleeping Jess in their hands. She couldn't blame Jess for getting sick; she'd really had a lot of shots with Miles after dinner, so it didn't really come as a surprise that she felt the way she did.

When Heather turned around, she was met by a couple of questioning eyes from Miles; his face was only lit by the smoldering embers that lay on the ground between them. Heather tilted her head to the side. "Yea, so, uh, I think I'll just, uh, go to bed too. See ya guys tomorrow."

And while confusion filled Heather's head, Miles was already on his way over the dark lawn too, leaving her to glare over to the only person that was still joining her by the bonfire; Daryl.

His eyes were gleaming as he stared down at the fireplace, his features calm while he sipped from his beer. Heather cleared her throat and felt a heavy presence of awkwardness thicken between them.

There were still so many things left unsaid between them; so many events that had occurred that Heather really couldn't place inside her head. And while she was sitting there with all those things in her head, he simply just stared into the smolder with heavy shadows marking his face.

Heather rolled her neck along her shoulder blades as a trembling sigh escaped her lips. She wasn't gonna sit here and wait for him to say something; she wasn't that desperate on the whole 'I wanna get to know you'-thing. Because if Daryl didn't do anything for their relationship, or whatever it was, to get better, she sure as hell wasn't going to either.

So Heather got up on her feet and looked down on her hands while wrapping her thin blanket tighter around herself. "Um, I think I'll hit the covers too. Guess I'll see you tomorrow," Heather spoke in a quiet voice while eyeing him.

And when Daryl didn't answer, nor even nodded at her, she turned around while breathing out heavily.

_Fine Dixon,_ she thought to herself, _have a fucking nice evening with yourself._

And then she stomped off across the dry lawn maybe a little too aggressively. He was gonna get it the way he wanted, wasn't he?

She didn't turn her head the slightest when she heard his footsteps shuffle behind her, and when he said her name she didn't answer. But of course, she knew Daryl well enough to know that if he wanted her to stop, he was gonna get her to. A small yelp of surprise escaped her lips when he wrapped his hand around her arm and yanked her backwards, causing her to crash her shoulder into his chest.

"Fuckin' stop!" Daryl growled into her ear as he forced her to turn around, to face him, and reached his hands up to cup her face. Heather tried to twist herself out of his taut grip, but he only just tightened his calloused fingers around her jaw.

She whimpered at the roughness of his hands and the strong smell of alcohol that hit her nose like a brick wall. Had he been drinking alone in his tent?

She raised her eyes to gaze into his, but wasn't prepared for what they did to her. An enormous shiver trembled down her spine as those two blue fires bored into her, pierced through her and seemed to read whatever they wanted to from her mind. Another whimper sounded from her when his fingers tightened once more and he took a step closer to her. She put her hands up to his chest and pushed a little at him.

"Ya mad?" he growled in his throat as he kept staring into her eyes, keeping them locked with his.

She didn't know how to speak as he just kept those burning stares on her face but she managed to punch his chest with her fists clenched. She was furious.

Furious for all the things he'd done to her, furious for what he'd done to Jackson, furious for acting the way he did around the others and furious for not speaking his mind. If he would just tell her whatever went through that thick skull of his, maybe she would start to understand the reasons for his stupid actions.

But all she could do was whimper out as he caused another shiver to travel down her helpless body.

She let her hands clench into fists around the soft fabric of his shirt as a gnarling sound rippled from his chest. She saw him wet his lips as he stared down at her, down at her mouth, and she immediately did the same thing without even wanting to. She saw his face twitch slightly, his eyes narrowing at her before he bent his head down closer to her.

He crashed his lips upon hers roughly.

A fire immediately burned through her body and she heard an unwanted moan being muffled between their working tongues without knowing if it was hers or his. His elusive stubble prickled along the skin around her mouth as he worked his tongue over her lower lip before biting down on it lightly.

Her legs seemed to turn into jelly; they betrayed her as she felt them give into the weight of Daryl pressing his mouth so closely to hers. His rough hands quickly loosened their tight grip on her jaw and reached down to wrap around her torso, pulling her close to him.

She lost her mind there, she was sure of it. Now, all she could think about was the way his lips and tongue worked on her, the hardness of his chest crashing upon her soft one and his warm big hands ripping at her oversize hoodie.

All the anger, hell, all rational thought was being pushed out of her along with her breath when his lips left hers and he growled into her ear, his shoulders hovering broadly over her, his musky scent making her head dizzy.

She shot her hand down to grab him between his legs.

He crouched around her as her hand roughly nudged him; hands around her arms and tearing at her back, head bent over her shoulder, mouth on the sensitive skin between her neck and shoulder where his teeth scraped desperately and his hips bucking at her, forcing the apparently hard bulge between his legs to glide over the palm of her hand. But it was the sound that left his thin lips that had her tearing his belt buckle open.

Her hands worked quickly, as if she'd done this a million times before, as she made her way down into his boxers without pulling down his pants. Daryl crouched even tighter around her when Heather's hands wrapped around his hardness, and a hiss sounded from him when she with one hand digging into his hip started stroking his length with the other in quick strokes.

He was like an animal; bucking his hips forcefully into her hand, growling deeply into her ear and his muscles tightening around her as he helplessly savored the feeling of her touching him like that. And Heather was on fire. She was burning with heat, her blood boiling feverishly with anticipation, anger and lust for the boy before her.

"Fuck," she heard him grunt as he pulled away from her, pulling his pants back up to rest on his hips again, "Not here."

And then he grabbed her wrist and pulled her after him. She helplessly stalked after him, over the lawn and in the direction of his tent with a heaving chest and a belly so tightened with heat, she thought that she was going to explode any minute now.

They literally fell into the tent and down onto his air mattress, Heather being on top. She sat up, straddled him with one leg on each side of him, and instantly pulled off her black hoodie, earning a shiver to spread goose bumps over her skin when she felt the heated warm air cling around her.

She would have expected Daryl to have thrown himself at her, but instead he'd grown quiet and still. She looked down at him and tilted her head to the side when she saw his eyes travel over her almost naked torso.

His eyes were still burning, lust and hunger obvious in their beaming, but something else was also visible in them. The same softness she'd only seen one time before; right after the first time they'd been together.

A silent moan sounded from her as she felt a feather-light touch of Daryl's calloused fingertips stroke upwards from her stomach, up her cleavage and over to her collarbone. His other hand had traveled around to the clasp of her bra, and he fumbled absentmindedly with it while his eyes burned on her skin. She breathed out and threw her head back when she once more felt his fingers run over her trembling skin.

A low irritated grumble sounded from him as he still fumbled with the opening of her bra. Heather giggled breathily and reached around to smack his hand away and remove it herself. When the fabric fell down she saw his eyes widen and she couldn't help but to grind her hips when another feather-touch ran over her newly freed delicate skin.

She sighed out in pleasure as she felt his fingertips clench gently around her nipples and she bucked out her chest at his hands.

"Beautiful," he whispered in a raspy breath before he cupped both hands around her breasts, causing her to whimper out. The gentleness of his touch and the word that had just rolled over his thin lips had desire shooting down her body and explode in wetness between her legs.

She grabbed one of his hands and reached it upwards, up to her mouth, before she planted lingering and wet kisses on his fingertips. She went even further and let her tongue stroke from the root of his index finger and up to the tip, a strong and edgy taste of cigarette smoke prickling along her taste buds. She slipped the finger inside of her mouth, wanting more of the stale taste that lingered on his skin.

A groaning snarl rippled over Daryl's parted lips and his free hand wrapped around her hip, his fingernails clawing against her skin there as he bucked his hips up at her, the hard bulge in his pants pressing at her inner thigh.

She sucked greedily on his finger when his eyes met with hers. They were so soft and hard at the same time, she didn't know what to do with herself. So she climbed down from his hips and pulled his pants off him.

He looked at her with wide eyes as she quickly reached up to remove his boxers as well. Another explosion of moist between her legs had Heather groaning when she watched his hard length spring out in the darkness of the tent. She desperately grabbed him while placing herself between his tightened legs and watched his beauty with greedy eyes. She felt him shift nervously under her.

"Relax," she rasped, her voice sounding so different from what she was used to that a faint blush flushed across her cheeks. She bent down and placed a quick kiss on the pink hardened tip of him and an uneasy hiss sounded from his lips.

She'd never tried this before so she looked up to catch his gaze and breathed out heavily when she saw the eyes he was giving her. Darkness, hunger and desperation beamed from them and a silent snarl was curling his lips upwards, showing off his teeth.

She let her tongue lick over the same spot she'd just kissed without removing her eyes from his. Now the snarl that had lain on his lips sounded loudly, rippling from his heaving chest.

Heather closed her eyes. His reactions to her touch were all she needed as encouragement for her to go further. She let her lips glide over his hardness and down its silky skin, over the many visible veins that pumped eagerly there, while she pressed her tongue along it.

"The hell," Daryl growled silently and his hips bucked naturally at her, surprising her with the sudden size of him inside her. A gagging sound spread out over Daryl's length when she felt him hit something in the back of her throat.

Daryl groaned loudly and bucked his hips again, harder and quicker this time. Heather felt her body convulse slightly, another gag sounding from her throat, and she pulled her head back, sucking in a sharp breath.

She looked up to see Daryl's hands cover his face while his chest heaved up and down in quick movements. She smirked before bending down again to continue.

She could feel he tried to control his hips this time, the muscles of his thighs desperately tightening and loosening as she let her mouth glide up and down him. She felt the muscles of her jaw complain at the weird angle but she kept working over him.

Daryl hissed and groaned as he looked down at her. Heather felt one of his hands on her head and she looked up to have her eyes lock with his. Desperation was so evident on his features that she moaned out loudly; the vibrations of her voice obviously doing something to him as his eyelids fluttered heavily. She saw his mouth twitch.

"Ya gotta… ya gotta stop," he stuttered out in a weak voice, his eyes closing shut when she moaned loudly over him again. His breath was becoming staggered and his body was beginning to jerk.

"Ah… fuck, m' gon' shoot ya," he spluttered in a trembling voice. Heather felt heat flush down her body.

Her jaw was almost hurting now as she continued clasping her mouth around him but she really didn't want to stop; not when he looked so damn… pleased. But an ever growing feeling of cramps soon started to shoot through the muscles of her jaw and eventually had her replacing her mouth with her hand. She breathed out heavily.

She saw panic wash over Daryl's face as he looked down on her, watching what she was doing. "Fuck!" he hissed, "Watch it, m' gonna…"

And now Heather finally realized what the fuck 'shoot' meant.

In panic she bent her head down to his dick again, but not only had she just placed her tongue on his head when she felt something warm hit the back of her throat, spurting up her tongue and exploding over her lips in small quick squints. A deep growling gnarl sounded up from Daryl.

Heather felt herself naturally trying to swallow the warm liquid that prevented her from breathing properly. She felt like it took her forever to regain a normal breathing pattern but when she did, she looked at Daryl and her breath almost got caught in her throat again.

The way his eyes roamed over her face with a light she'd never seen in them before overwhelmed her so much that she had to cover her face in her hands. Her cheeks burned heavily.

"No," he rasped out in a lazy voice and she felt his hands tuck hers away from her face. She then let him watch her, feeling more self-conscious than she'd ever done before. Was there something in her face? Did some of his… thing hit her cheeks or chin or something?

"Come here," Daryl rasped and she felt him pull her down to him, to place her right next to him on his mattress. Her eyes roamed down his body, down to the thing between his legs that still stood up beautifully into the dark room that was the tent. She let her eyes travel up to his face and felt shivers run along her skin as his eyes burned into hers.

His breathing was still heavy as she saw him reach up one hand to tuck away some strands of hair from her face. She smiled at him and shifted her legs a bit; the wetness between her legs was beginning to feel uncomfortable as she lay there. A smirk slowly curled up on Daryl's lips as his eyes followed her movement. "Ya want me to…?"

Heather widened her eyes.

Did she want him to what, now?

But Daryl didn't wait for an answer to be given; he quickly rolled over to rest himself on his elbow and bent down to kiss her shoulder. Heather felt one of his hands stroke down her torso in the same feather-light fashion as before, and down to the hem of her pants where he tucked at the buttons there.

She let him pull down her pants, lifting her bottom as he removed them, and felt how her heart beat sped up when his hand swayed over her underpants. Daryl let his hand stroke gently over her inner thighs, over her hips and over the moist fabric that was her panties.

She let out a ragged breath when she felt him press down his palm on her as pleasure shot down her legs, making her toes curl. With his palm flattened, he started stroking her in circles.

Heather practically cried out.

She'd never felt that feeling before; the one that was currently burning in her belly and causing her knees to buck upwards and her legs to spread out. She could almost hear Daryl smirk beside her but the feeling he was causing her to experience soon had her forgetting. The pressure that had been building ever since he crashed his lips on hers out there on the lawn seemed to have increased now, and she couldn't get enough of the sensation of pleasure that shot from the pit of her stomach.

Her eyes opened in surprise, she couldn't remember a which point she'd closed them, when she felt Daryl's fingers sneak their way under her underpants and down over her damp folds. She whimpered out as she felt one of them slide gently into her slickness and over her most sensitive spot.

Desperation for more had her grabbing his arm with both hands, pressing it closer to her as she bucked her hips at his fingers.

"Damn," she heard him rasp out when she let both her hands reach down and pull off her panties. She wasn't thinking about anything else but what her body demanded for her to do and was surprised when she felt her hands force two of Daryl's fingers close to her entrance.

"Please, Daryl," she cried desperately as he eyed her maniacally and she bucked her hips at his hand once more. She felt him tighten his fingers and press gently at her entrance. Her body jerked violently as pleasure once more waved over her heated body. She heard him hiss out as she reached up her hands to claw at her breasts while her back arched, nails digging into the soft flesh there. And then Daryl pushed two fingers inside of her.

She cried out as both pain and desire washed over her.

Another ragged breath escaped Daryl's lips as he started pulling his fingers in and out of her. It didn't take long for the pleasure to override the pain and Heather soon found herself moaning loudly at the feeling of his touch.

He'd scooted himself closer to her; his face was inches from hers and she could feel his hot breath on her mouth as she laid there and enjoyed what he was doing to her. But she couldn't get enough; she wanted more. "Harder, please Daryl, faster…" she pleaded in that same strange voice from before.

Daryl snarled out as he started to pump his fingers in quicker movements and with such a force, the muscles of his arm flexed beautifully with every drive. "Say ma name again," he demanded in a growl.

She writhed beneath him and called out his name again and again. She wanted nothing but to make him continue those amazing things that he was doing to her. She felt his lips on her cheek, then his tongue, licking along her sweaty jawline and down her neck. Without thinking, she reached one of her hands down to wrap her fingers around his dick that pushed at her thigh and started stroking.

He was done, she knew that, but she just couldn't help herself.

However, Daryl growled out in pleasure at her touch and bucked his hips at her. It was almost too much for her to grasp, the fire inside her burning wildly, and she cried out loudly.

Suddenly, Daryl's fingers left her, his body pulled away from her and Heather opened her eyes in panic. She watched him sit up on the mattress and stare down at her with a hard look in his face. She bit down on her lip and closed her eyes. He could do with her whatever he wanted.

She felt his hands grab tightly around her knees and pulled her along the mattress so her butt cheeks slapped against his thighs. She sucked in a hard breath as she felt his hardness push against her slick folds. "No!" she whispered out quickly and threw her hands up to flatten against his hard chest.

"Condom," she managed to rasp out while her body still writhed under him.

Heather heard him grunt before his hands left hers and the rustle of fabric sounded loudly inside the tent. She heard an unfamiliar sound of plastic crackling and with her eyes closed she whimpered out pleadingly.

She didn't open her eyes before she felt his heat crawl over her once more and something hard slap over her pelvis.

He hovered over her, his eyes roaming her body as it jerked closer to him, begging for him to please her. She was getting impatient; her hands traveled over her skin, along her stomach and over her breasts and then back down over her thighs. And then she saw him bend down over her so his face was just in front of hers, his forehead pressed against her own and his breath hot on her mouth.

"Yes," she pleaded as she felt him near her entrance again. He bored himself into her.

A wave of pain washed over her and she felt her thighs clasp around Daryl's hips as she cried out. But this time he didn't stop to ask her whether she was in pain or not, this time he pulled out before quickly pushing himself inside of her again, causing another cry to escape her lungs loudly.

She felt his hands grab around her hips, pushing her roughly against his abdomen as he pounded himself in and out of her. His head fell to burry itself in her neck as his hips rocked back and forth, his hardness driving into her repeatedly. Heather almost had herself scream for him to stop as the pain didn't seem to seize at all, but just as she was about to call, out she felt it. That same amazing, mindbreaking feeling like the last time; that special spot he hit that felt so…

She moaned out loudly into his ear as he worked her body like an animal, his shoulders so broad and close to her, and she let her teeth sink into the soft damp skin there. His musky scent mixed with the salty taste of his sweaty skin burned through her head and strong waves of pleasure had her eyes shut close. She felt fire gathering in the pit of her stomach as Daryl kept driving himself into her, harder and faster now while grunting deeply into her ear.

Heather felt her muscles tightening, something was about to happen to her body; something was slowly building up inside of her with each and every thrust. "Don't stop," she begged him in a breathy whimper as she felt her body tremble beneath him.

It seemed like she was on some unfamilar edge and that if he stopped now, she was never coming off of it. But if he continued, _please let him continue_, then she was gonna fall down from it; down into a deep valley of unknown desirable wonder. Daryl growled into her ear.

"Look at me. Say ma name. I wanna hear ya say it when it happens." And then he pulled his torso away from her, pulled her ass up from the mattress and slammed himself harder against her again and again. Heather felt herself fall over.

A loud cry rippled from her chest as she felt herself come apart beneath him, her inner walls tightening around Daryl's hardness and pleasure exploding inside her belly. Daryl hissed out a snarling sound above her and she fought against the urge of closing her eyes. She called his name out into the night as he'd told her to, as her body trembled heavily with jerking twitches.

"You're so good to me," she whimpered out desperately as the aftermath of the explosion rolled over her. Those words were apparently enough for Daryl to fall over his own edge because his eyes immediately widened as she'd spoken, his face twitched into a rather pained expression and his hands tightened on her ass.

Heather watched him in amazement as his thrusts became uneven and his breathing ragged, his lips were slightly parted and his eyes closed shut. He shuddered above her.

When his orgasm wore off, he slipped out of her and let himself dump down next to her with the laziest expression she'd ever seen flushed over his face. She giggled breathily and reached her hand up to swipe over his forehead, wiping off some of the small pearls of sweat that had gathered just below his hairline. He slowly flinched a bit away from her touch but when his eyes met with hers, he relaxed back down on the mattress.

"That was amazing," Heather whispered in a scared yet also confident voice.

She was afraid what his answer was gonna be but she knew she had to tell him. He was truly fucking amazing. She saw him smile tiredly with eyes closed, and he kissed her hand as it stroked down over his chin.

"Yea, kinda was. Stay here tonight."

Heather felt joy bubble down in her stomach together with millions of crazed butterflies.

_I like you too, Dixon._


	6. Homecoming

**Hi my lovlies! **

**So first of all I would like to say: I'm so very sorry for the slow update! I've just been really busy with the upcoming "Copenhagen fashion week" plus I'd had to deal with personal problems... But here it is; my sixth part of Howell Lake! **

**This was inspired by what I just mentioned before as 'personal problems'; a friend of mine just went through a situation like this and, well, let's just say I got my inspiration from her. Having said that, I have a little request to give you guys: **

**While writing this chapter, I constantly listened to one song. And I really want to share it with you guys!  
MØ - Pilgrim (it's a band from Denmark but the lyrics are in English, don't sorry) It's a fantastic song and, yeah, I just wanted to share it with all of you :-) ( watch?v=M5uIVBxWZVU)**

**I hope I don't dissapoint anyone by sayig this; I'm not doing any shoutouts this time. I know that all of you know how amazingly awesome I think you all are! And therefore I will just say this: Thank you soooo much to everyone who favorited and followed this little story. If it wasn't for you, I would never have continued on this and I really like where it is going, so thank you so much!  
And hugs and kisses for everyone who reviews; it really means a lot to me to know what you think :-) **

**Lastly, I want to say that there are some persons that both reviewed, followed and favorited, and you guys? You are the coolest people ever! 3**

**I hope you enjoy this chapter! **

* * *

**Homecoming**

Warm air swarmed into the blue van and touched all the teens' heated faces in there, making the three girls' hair swirl around their shoulder as they sat in the backseat and stared lazily out the windows.

The whole group was exhausted; they'd spent the morning cleaning the little lake house down by Eufaula, and around it for that matter, and were now on their way home. As Heather looked around on her friends that filled the van and saw their satisfied expressions, she knew that they all agreed on the fact that it had been an awesome weekend. Of course, the incident with Daryl and Jackson hadn't been awesome; nor the part where Jackson had left in anger and told them not to go after him because he didn't wanna look at Daryl's face ever again. But aside from that, they'd all had a good time.

Heather felt a slight sting of joy in the pit of her stomach as her eyes roamed over to the side mirror of the truck where a couple of blue fires stared right back at her. She quickly looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap while a smile crept up on her lips.

She'd spent the night in Daryl's tent… with Daryl.

Her smile grew wider and she absentmindedly reached up her hand to let her thumb trace over her lower lip as she remembered how passionately he'd kissed her last night and how his eyes had traced over her entire body when they'd been naked together. How his eyes had glowed with such a tender light to them when he'd tucked her hands away from her face to look at her right after she'd made him… 'shoot her'.

Heather let her eyes back up to the side mirror. Daryl was still eyeing her; but he was smiling too now.

A real smile.

Not the smirk he usually sent her if he could see she was affected by him, or the 'I'm just here smiling at you, 'cause that's what you're supposed to do with people, right?'-smile.

No; a genuine happy smile was parting his lips and showing his nice white teeth. He reached up his arm to put his thumb to his mouth where he lazily bit at the skin, still with his eyes on her. He looked so relaxed as he sat there, shoulders down, looking at her, smiling and seeming to enjoy the warm Georgian sun that beamed from the sky and held the same bright color as his eyes.

Heather let her eyes glare out over the open fields they were currently passing; yellow and green flew by in blurry movements as the van moved quickly over the highway while her thoughts sailed back to this morning.

It had been so surreal.

She'd actually been terrified when she woke up; sweating, panting and not been able to move she'd opened her eyes to a bright green light that shone down on her sweaty face. But before she'd even realized where she was, her eyes had sought over to the person that caused her not to move; Daryl had practically been lying on top of her, almost as if he was crouching over her while he aired out his heavy warm breaths over her shoulder and neck, his arms wrapped gently around her torso and his legs mingled with hers. But that hadn't been the part that had startled her the most; she could hear the others walk around on the lawn outside while talking about who was to clean the kitchen, the bathroom and whatnot. And that had made Heather gasp out.

Not because she was afraid that she might be the one to clean the bathroom, hell, had it only been that… No, it was because of the fact that now everyone knew that she and Daryl had slept together; as in slept in the same tent together but obviously also as in had sex with each other.

But when Daryl had started to stir and then opened his eyes to gaze into hers, she'd immediately felt some sort of comfort glide over her body and she'd breathed out a silent 'good morning'. His eyes had traveled down her body, which to her embarrassment was completely exposed to his grasping vision as she'd probably gotten rid of the warm cover during the hot Georgian summer night, and he'd bit down his lower lip before smirking at her. And she'd bit down on her lower lip herself and shut her eyes closed as she'd felt his fingers stroke up her thigh, over her stomach, circle around her breasts and end up at her lips where he earned a shaky kiss from her on the tip of his index finger as he pressed it down gently. And he'd hummed out as she'd planted another kiss on his finger before parting her lips to let her breath roll out over them to caress it. But just as she'd opened her eyes to gaze upon him, they'd both stiffened as they heard Zach's voice just outside the tent, him probably getting the van ready: "I gotta ask ya, why didn't we wake the lovebirds again? I mean, they gotta help out too."

And then Jessica's giggling voice had sounded from farther down the lawn: "We'll give 'em five more minutes. Probably had a long night, them two."

"Hm, hope Dixon wasn't too hard on her, poor gal," Cris had grinned somewhere close to where Jess' voice had come from. That had earned Jess to laugh while Zach had grunted out.

"What's that s'posed to mean?" Zach had muttered at Cris.

Heather remember how she'd felt Daryl stiffen even more next to her as Jess' voice had chirped out in her girly voice: "'Cause Dixon's a beast in bed. Not sure our little Seattle princess can deal with all that."

Heather had felt her cheeks burn red and Daryl's stilled hand almost scorching the skin of her stomach as they listened to their friends outside the tent.

"The fuck ya know that?" Zach asked as a car door was being shut close and you could practically hear both Jess and Cris roll their eyes at him. "Come on, man," Cris had said, "don't tell us ya think of Dixon as a gentleman 'tween the sheets. Aint nothin' tender 'bout that guy at all."

Heather had giggled silently up at Daryl, but his face had been serious and his eyes hard.

"Ew, I aint thinkin' 'bout Dixon that way. Ya girls are nasty."

"Yea, right, Zach. As if ya haven't pictured how one of us girls is like in bed."

A short moment of silence had had both girls outside the tent grinning. Another couple of footsteps were heard over the lawn outside, and Miles' voice had rumbled loudly: "Now, if y'all are done dreamin' 'bout how Dixon wipes his dick, maybe we can get goin' with this shit?"

Heather giggled to herself as she turned her gaze to Jess and Cris; how Cris was leaning her head against the plastic wall of the van and Jess that rested herself on Cris' shoulder with eyes closed and an open mouth. Daryl had acted so awkward around the two girls next to her after having listened to their little conversation that morning. Mostly, he just tried to avoid them and when they'd asked or told him something, he would act all weird and grumpy.

_But that is just the deal with Daryl, isn't it?_ Heather thought to herself as her eyes traveled back over to the side mirror of blue fires. When there was something on his mind, he wouldn't confront you with it; he would just leave you alone for you to dwell on it. Well, that wasn't exactly true, was it? He'd confronted Jackson yesterday. And he'd also given his apologies to Miles after the incident with Merle at his party...

Heather sighed out as she scooted herself over to rest her temple against Jessica's shoulder. She really couldn't figure that guy out, could she? Her eyes caught with his in the rearview mirror and she bit down on her lower lip. _You don't want anyone to figure out what kinda guy you are, Dixon? I'll figure you out… Just wait._

* * *

Heather threw her purse over her shoulder and rolled her eyes heavily at Joseph and Matt as the three of them strolled out of the double doors that led to the school cafeteria. They'd just finished a project for their English class where they were to do an oral presentation of the way too wide subject 'liberation' that they would be presenting to the rest of the class the following day. But as they'd finished up and Heather had barely just closed her book shut, Joseph had looked at her with mischievous eyes and a smirk on his lips as he'd said: "So… You 'n Dixon, huh?"

And Heather was now trying to escape his interrogative glaze and questions about her and Daryl by walking fast paced down the stairs.

Not that she wasn't aware of the fact that that all the others knew about them, she just didn't want to… explain herself. "Ey, hold up woman!" she heard Joseph's voice call out behind her as she rushed down the entrance hall with her eyes glued to the doors leading out to the school parking lot. She just wanted to go home and start making dinner for her dad; not stay here and explain her Daryl's relationship to Joseph, or anyone else for that matter.

Heather stopped with a heavy sigh as she felt a hand being laid upon her shoulder. She turned around to face Joseph and Matt with closed eyes, not wanting to face the smirks that must have been plastered over their mouths. She heard Matt chuckle. "So it's true; you're datin' Dixon?"

An unappreciated smile crept up on Heather's lips and she quickly turned around and reached her hand up to the door handle to hide it. "I can't really see what the big deal is here," Heather sighed before pushing the door open and stepping outside to have the heat hid her like a wall; the moist air quickly clung to her skin and the subtle rumble of people chatting sounded in her ear. She was followed by her two classmates.

"Well," Joseph chuckled as he kept up with her fast paced steps, "If ya was datin' him, I would tell ya that your boyfriend's here. But if not, well, then I guess ya aint holdin' no interest for that."

Heather felt her heart skip a beat. Daryl was here?!

Her eyes quickly scanned the parking lot but instead of resting on her favorite blue burning fires, they rested on a different kind of blue; the blue lights of a police car. What were the cops doing here?

"Over there, by the dumpsters," Matt chuckled out and pointed his finger towards two dark figures that both stood leaning over each their motorcycle. She immediately recognized Daryl; he was sitting on a rather small bike, his legs spread over his dark blue ride, his eyes roaming over to the police car that was parked on the other side of the parking lot and a cigarette hanging lazily from the corner of his mouth.

Heather felt her cheeks flush red and quickly looked over at the man that stood beside him; he was standing next to his motorcycle that was a lot bigger than Daryl's. He was tall, broad and looked like he was in his late twenties, start thirties maybe. There was a small and very familiar curl on his lips, something between a smirk and a gnarl, and Heather felt an uncomfortable shiver run down her spine as she saw the man's light blue eyes that too were glaring over to the police car. "Is that…?" she started out but her words stifled as she felt a weird tension in her throat.

"Merle Dixon," Joseph seethed through his teeth and out of the corner of her eye, Heather saw Joseph take a few steps back and she swallowed down hard before glaring back at the man that apparently was the eldest Dixon brother; the notorious Merle Dixon.

He looked just like Heather had imagined him to; his arms were bigger than her thighs, he wore a black leather west and his stare was even meaner than Daryl's otherwise really hard one. And just as she stood there with big eyes and stared at the guy, he turned his head around, letting his blue eyes pierce into her green ones. She quickly ripped her stare away from him and shifted nervously on her feet.

"I, uh, I think I'll just head home now," Heather stammered in a weak voice.

She felt both Joseph and Matt's questioning glaze on her. "What, ya aint goin' over there? But he's your…"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Heather shrieked a little too loud in an edgy voice as she felt another burn run over her pink cheeks. She heard Matt chuckle as she felt panic wash over her. She couldn't go over there? Not when Merle was there… What were they doing here anyway?

She let her eyes back to where the two Dixon's were sitting and felt her heart beat instantly starting to speed up; her eyes met with her favorite blue fires. In panic, she raised her hand in an awkward wave but let it fall down to her side as she watched the expression that filled Daryl's face. His eyes narrowed down at her, his lips frowned a little and he tightened his grip on the steer of his bike. She looked over at Matt and Joseph and felt a small sting of relief as she realized they hadn't seen her peculiar little exchange with Daryl; they were occupied with the police car that still flashed its lights at the end of the parking lot.

Heather looked back at Daryl who still had his hard stare on her, his face twitched in a weird expression and she tried tilting her head to the side to ask him whether she should come over or not. But Daryl didn't let her know his thoughts as he just let his eyes glide over to look at his big brother with a small shrug of his shoulders. Heather didn't know what to do; should she go over there and say hi? Wouldn't it be weird if she didn't? Wouldn't it be weird if she did?

She immediately regretted her decision as she started walking towards the two Dixon brothers. _Pull yourself together_, she thought to herself as she made her way around the parked cars,_ it's just Daryl and his brother, nothing more. Relax._

She felt a small releasing feeling of relief as she watched Daryl step down from his bike and stalk towards her with long steps, eyes on the ground.

So he did wanna talk to her...

He looked torn though; a small gnarl lay on his lips and his shoulders were tensed. Heather stopped and let him close the distance between them; always aware of the many stares of the students that were on her now as she'd walked over to the two guys no one would want to even just pass if they could choose not to. She felt Daryl's big hands grab around her shoulders as she stared into his chest.

"The hell y'all doin'?" he asked her in a rough voice that crept over her skin like a snake. She kept her eyes on his dirty light brown t-shirt and shrugged her shoulders as her mood instantly fell. Okay, maybe he didn't wanna talk to her…

She tried opening her mouth but nothing came out so she slowly shut her lips close again. "Don't want'cha to be seen with us," Daryl snarled as he let go of her shoulders in a quick push.

Heather felt like all the air in her lungs was being pushed out of her as his words hit her ears. "Oh," she managed to croak out as her eyes fell to the ground beneath them. A small dandelion had struggled its way up through a tiny crack in the hard asphalt just by her right foot. Out of the corner of her eye, she felt Daryl shift on his feet in front of her and she heard footsteps closing in on them.

"Miss Aalen? Miss Heather Aalen?" a deep voice sounded next to her, shaking her back into reality. She ripped her eyes off of the ground and up to the policeman that had placed himself next to her and Daryl. His eyes were flat and his face a little too grave for her liking. "Yes?" she confusedly chirped out, a little out of breath.

"I'm police officer Derek Greene from the Macon Police Department. I'm here regarding a man named Patrick Craig Aalen, is that your father?"

Heather felt something hard fall down her stomach and the sound of something rushing in her ear had her feeling a little out of place. "Yeah, he is."

Her eyes were still plastered on the serious face of the policeman as she felt her blood beginning to race through her veins.

"He a'right?" Daryl's voice sounded into Heather's ear as her eyes dropped to the ground again. No matter what, she wasn't prepared for whatever was coming at her now.

"I'm afraid not, sir," the officer answered flatly, "He is currently undergoing surgery. His state is critical. Miss Aalen, I'll have to ask you to come with me."

Heather felt the ground shake beneath her and her head felt heavy. Strong hands wrapped around her torso as her knees gave in and she felt herself stumble into Daryl's hard chest. Something warm started to prickle in her eyes.

"What happened?" Daryl asked for her in a raspy voice while his arms snaked under her armpits to hold her up on her feet.

"Can I ask what your name is, sir?" the police officer asked in a deep voice.

"Dixon. Daryl Dixon," Daryl growled as he pressed Heather into his chest. She didn't know how to get her feet to function properly again.

"He a friend of yours, miss Aalen?" the officer asked in a more personal and soft spoken voice than he'd had before. She nodded with her eyes closed. She could taste bile in her mouth."I don't think this is the right time to tell you this, Miss Aalen, but your father was in a serious car crash this morning at the intersection between Middle Street and Hardeman Ave. His car was hit by a truck at 11.35 am and he was immediately moved to the Medical Center of Central Georgia. The doctors there asked me to come and get you, Miss, as you were his only contact person. Sir, if you would just…"

Daryl growled something at the officer and Heather felt her body being swooped up from the ground. Her vision was blurred by warm salty liquid and her head felt wobbly; as if the muscles in her neck had decided to just not function.

What the fuck had that officer just babbled on about?

She felt her eyes roll in their sockets behind her closed eyelids. Her dad wasn't okay. He was at the hospital. He was in surgery. His state was….

Heather heard a muffled sob cry over her lips and she quickly buried her face in the soft fabric of the musky smelling t-shirt next to her head. She didn't register anything around her but the slow heart beat that pumped under Daryl's t-shirt and how she wanted nothing more but to stay like this until… until…

She felt Daryl's comforting arms shift around and she let her fingers claw gently at his back as he bent his head closer to hers. A little tingle in her heart sparked inside of her as she felt his stubble scratch her damp chin but just as it had started to send out its joyful sparkles, she felt her body being put down on something hard. Daryl's arms suddenly disappeared from her gooey body.

"Sir, are ya sure you can't come along?" the serious voice of the police officer sounded from somewhere in front of her and she struggled with opening her eyes. She managed to push one of them open and glared down at her thigh as she felt a strong hand nudge her there.

"Can't," Daryl's comfortable growl sounded beside her.

Panic washed over her, making her eyes shoot open. "Please stay," she whispered in a breathy and weak voice.

He couldn't leave her there with that police man? She couldn't be alone in this car, she couldn't face going in to that hospital alone, she couldn't… She pushed her head upwards so she could look into his eyes. Daryl quickly let his head fall down between his shoulders and ripped away his hand from her thigh. Heather felt her face contract as something painful started to throb inside of her throat. She felt another set of tears stream down her face.

"Fuck, I… can't."

And then he pushed himself away from her, off the car seat and put his hand at the top of the car door. Heather felt his eyes burn over her face for a short moment before he slammed the car door shut, leaving her to be sitting alone in the backseat of the white police car. Not alone entirely of course, the police officer was there together with his partner, but she could just as well have been alone as they didn't talk to her. Or at least, she didn't realize if they did.

She sat there on the black leather in the backseat of the police car, hugging her arms around herself while staring down on a dark spot on the carpet in the bottom of the car. What was she going to do?

What if her dad didn't make it? What idiot jerk crap shithead fucker had run his goddamned car into her dad's?

She felt several stones fall down into her stomach as she pictured how her dad might have experienced it; she imagined him to be sitting there in his car, probably happily whistling along to a country tune that was playing in the radio while absentmindedly drumming his thumb on the wheel, and when seeing the lights turn green, he'd stepped on the gas and let his car drive him to the middle of the road before some idiotic jackass had passed a red light and slam…

Heather swallowed down hard as she felt her mouth go dry.

Were the doctors still operating on him? Did they have their nasty sharp tools buried in his flesh in this exact moment? Or had they given up? Had the machine that told them his every heart beat been shut down to drown the sound of their failure? "Miss Aalen? Miss Aalen, please come with us. We're here."

Heather felt like a ghost as she was being brought into the big grey building that read "Medical Center of Central Georgia" and down through the long halls of rushed white medical gowns and bleeping machines. Her face felt numb as they dragged her along behind them; brought her closer and closer to the room that would hold the knowledge of her future.

What was she going to do if her dad died?

She wouldn't be able to stay in Georgia; not without anyone taking care of her. She was too young to have her own place, wasn't she?

Heather felt her body starting to tremble as thoughts rushed through her head; she was going to have to move away from Georgia… Back to Seattle where she would have to live with her aunt and cousin again; back to her old school and away from… everyone? Her two best friends, Jessica and Cristina, who she had grown to be so close with, who knew her so well for who she actually was and not the quiet and skinny girl that never hang out with anyone. Away from the whole group of friends she'd become so fond of, Matt, Miles, Joseph, Zacharias, hell, even Jackson; all of them she had to leave behind to go back to her old life with few friends. And Daryl…

She felt her heart skip a beat as she pictured him before her; his blue burning fires staring at her, his broad lean shoulders hovering over her and his raspy voice shivering into her ear and down her spine making her blood rush through her veins with something she couldn't explain.

Heather sighed out as she was told to sit down on a stool in a hallway and wait for the doctors to tell her how her dad was doing. She watched as the two police officers stalked around the corner before the two heavy doors swung in place and blocked her view down the hall. She let her eyes wander up to the wall before her as she sat there. A beautiful painting of a Georgian landscape hung there; blue skies, yellow grass and green trees framed by a white and very hospital-like casing. Heather felt like ripping it down.

How could her world just turn itself upside down like that?

At one moment, she'd been dealing with normal teenage problems; a boy, an English assignment and what she was going to wear at the upcoming party. But then, just as her world exploded in one single monotone sentence from that police officer, those problems seemed like simple issues, even just subjects, that made her do something in life.

Her dad was of right now struggling on the border of life and death, wasn't he?

Heather rested her head in her hands while her elbows bored into her knees.

Why had Daryl just left her like that? Why had he been so fucking concise when all she needed in that moment, in this moment, was for him to just be there, next to her? She just needed him to sit on the empty chair that stood there beside her and maybe hold her hand a little, letting her know he was there for her.

But he wasn't, was he?

He was only there for her when he needed something; when he needed her for her body.

Heather felt a muscle in her jaw tense.

He didn't want her to be seen with him, he didn't want her to get to know him and he didn't want her any more in his life than she already was. And she hated herself for wanting exactly that. Why was she so goddamned attracted to a guy that didn't even earn her a simple wave in the school parking lot? Why was she so intent on satisfying his needs when she didn't even have her own fulfilled? And now, when she needed him the most, he'd just told her: _"I can't."_

Fuck… What a dick!

Heather gasped out loudly when she felt a hand being laid upon her shoulder and she sprang up from her seat to have her eyes meet with a couple of dark brown ones. A female Hispanic looking nurse was eyeing her questioningly as she pulled her hand back from Heather's guarded stance. "Miss Aalen?" a male voice sounded behind the nurse before a tall man with grey hair stepped up to lay a hand on her arm.

Heather felt her eyes shoot up to his face and she took a step back. "Is he dead?"

Her eyes flickered back to the nurse that held a very grave facial expression; mouth in a tight line but her eyes softer than cotton. This wasn't happening...

"Miss Aalen, I…"

"Is he fucking dead?!" Heather screamed from the top of her lungs; anger, remorse, despise and sadness pouring out of her as the two white gowns stood beside her.

"Please, miss, you might wanna take a seat," the nurse soothed softly.

Heather felt her heart pound heavily inside her ribcage and she glared over to the doctor again. She just wanted to know if her dad was freaking dead or alive, was that too much to ask?

"Just tell me," she cringed, still standing on her feet, but only barely.

"Miss Aalen, your dad has not passed away. We performed an extremely difficult surgery to remove metal splinters from his chest. However, he is as of now in a coma. We cannot tell you when or if he'll wake up. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, miss. Would you like us to call someone? Maybe something to drink?"

Heather stumbled down onto the chair behind her.

_Not dead. Coma. When or if he'll wake up… _

Her head swayed to the side and her eyes went black.


End file.
